Dictator’s hairstyle compulsory in N.Korea

Originally published in Times of Israel.

North Korean men will be mandated by law to adopt haircuts matching that of leader Kim Jong-un, in accordance with a new law initially implemented in the capital, Pyongyang, two weeks ago, and extended to the rest of the country this week, Radio Free Asia reported.

Women will continue selecting a hairstyle from the list of 18 state-approved dos. Prior to this legislation, men were allowed to choose from among 10 different haircuts.

The trademark “Dear Leader Kim Jong-un” haircut is characterised by shaved sides and longer, slicked-back tendrils piled on the top of the head.

Unsurprisingly, citizens are unhappy with this ruling.

“Our leader’s haircut is very particular, if you will. It doesn’t always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes,” an unnamed source said.

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“Until the mid-2000s, we called it the ‘Chinese smuggler haircut,’” said a former Pyongyang resident, now living in China, The Korean Times reported.

The North Korean regime was recently likened to the Nazis in a far-reaching United Nations human rights report.

“Systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been and are being committed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its institutions and officials,” said the report by the Commission of Inquiry on North Korea set up in March 2013.

“The country is a dark abyss where the human rights, the dignity and the humanity of the people are controlled, denied and ultimately annihilated,” Michael Kirby, the head of the inquiry, said.

North Korea is listed in position 1 on Open Door’s World Watch List which ranks countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is the worst.

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