Kim Jong Un has ordered North Korea’s youth army officials to stage a crackdown on the presence of haircuts and music he doesn’t like among the country’s teenagers.
The dictator has told Youth League officials to closely watch “the speech, hairstyles and attire of young people” and take note of any “abnormal activities and psychological changes”.
People in North Korea are said to often choose from a list of government-approved haircuts and there has reportedly been an effort to stamp out the use of foreign slang in recent years.
The despot is reportedly on a campaign to fight back influences from other countries, which he perceives as a threat to the power of his regime.
In a letter released by North Korean state media he wrote that Chinese and South Korean fashion making its way into North Korea was a “serious concern”.
“Obviously, the spread of Chinese or South Korean or other foreign fashion is a serious concern for the North Korean government,” he said.
(Image: via REUTERS)
“First it’s haircuts, then lifestyle choices, then values, and then potentially fundamental questions about power, money and the way society is structured — that’s the logic.
“Everywhere in the world where the adolescent generations are seeking only personal goals and pleasure, only our young people are the revolutionary ones who find their pleasure in hardships and trials.”
“The dangerous poison tarnishing the nature of Korean-style socialism at present is the anti-socialist and non-socialist practices,” he added.
He also claimed that teenagers should already be preparing for military service, NK News reports.
(Image: via REUTERS)
It comes after the ruthless dictator was reported to have sentenced an official to death on Thursday after he ordered cheap medical equipment to get a hospital up and running.
The despot is said to have been enraged when the victim, a deputy director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, arranged to have Chinese machinery imported.
According to reports in neighbouring South Korea, Kim insisted that medical gear at the Pyongyang General Hospital should be from Europe.
The hospital has been in development since last year but is still yet to open, despite Kim setting a deadline of October because of the Covid crisis, Seoul-based Daily NK reports.
Unable to source the required gear from Europe because of sanctions on the rogue regime, the official is said to have turned to China for help.
The machinery would have been delivered by the end of this month, it is understood.
Kim attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the hospital in March last year, boasting that it would be open within six months – but that has yet to happen.
Experts believe that although construction has progressed, officials have been unable to source the equipment needed to save lives.