In North Korea, Kim Jong Un bans tight jeans, dyed hair & other 'capitalist' fashion

Kim Jong Un's dictatorship is intensifying its crackdown on "decadent" Western fashion trends in North Korea, such as coloured hair, tight trousers, and piercings. According to Radio Free Asia, North Korea's Socialist Patriot Youth League is now targeting women in their 20s and 30s who wear their hair down to their waists, colour it brown, or wear apparel with large foreign characters.

Radio Free Asia, a US government-sponsored nonprofit news site reported, citing an anonymous resident of Hamhung that North Korea's administration is also targeting women who wear curve-hugging jeans. Those who are caught wearing "capitalist flair" clothing outside are forced to stand on the side of the road until a youth patrol has completed scanning the area for others.

The report further added that all offenders are then transported to the Youth League's office, where they must confess their offences in writing. They are allowed to return home only if, someone provides them more suitable attire. The increased battle against Western tendencies, according to RFA's anonymous source, was declared last month during a statewide educational session during which Youth League leaders warned that dressing and hair like people in capitalist nations was in breach of North Korea's socialist standards.

Youth League stepped up its attempts to identify people who are mimicking foreign fashions & habits

According to a BBC report, North Korea first announced a crackdown on skinny jeans, piercings, and certain haircuts, including mullets, after Kim condemned foreign style and speech as "dangerous poisons." Since then, the Youth League has stepped up its attempts to identify people who are mimicking foreign fashions and habits. According to another source who spoke to RFA on the condition of anonymity, patrols in the city of Chongjin have been targeting a local marketplace known as a favourite hangout site for young people.

If any of the teenagers are detected doing something illegal, their employers will be contacted. "They are then subject to criticism, and in the most severe cases, the violator’s name, home address and workplace will be revealed publicly on the Third Broadcast," the insider informed RFA, referring to government-controlled loudspeakers used to convey propaganda across the country. Despite the sanctions, North Koreans "do not stop attempting to look and dress like people in international films and television," according to the source.

(With agency inputs)

Image: AP