North Korea shuns ‘capitalistic lifestyle’ with more fashion bans

Kim Jong Un is taking further steps to ensure that the citizens of his hermit country are not enticed by the influences of outside cultures by enacting a new round of bans on fashions and passions deemed part of Capitalist culture.

Among the latest things banned are “non-socialist” haircuts. These include mullets, spiked cuts and dyed hair.

Western fashion trends like skinny or ripped jeans and T-shirts with slogans, and nose or ear piercings will also get North Korean youth into trouble, the London Daily Express reported.

“We must be wary of even the slightest signs of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them,” North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun wrote about the latest bans.

“History teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall regardless of its economic and defence power if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle.”

The new bans join others, which, according to Mirror UK, include a ban on smiling on July 8, bans on Coca-Cola and McDonalds, as well as multiple restrictions on television and, of course, the internet.

North Korea also has a permanent ban on many things from South Korea, especially “decadent” K-pop music, and the boy and girl bands which have gained so many passionate fans around Asia and now the world.

In 2017, Anna Fifield a reporter for the Washington Post told readers just what is permissible for young North Koreans to do for fun.

It depends on what kind of North Koreans we’re talking about, she said.

The rich kids who live in “Pyonghattan” have the money and the opportunities to enjoy themselves.

Rollerblading is a big thing for the well-heeled – Kim has built lots of rinks – and they even go to the gym and do yoga. Some told her that they sometimes go to a bar and play ping-pong or pool.

But really these activities are just an excuse to hang out with members of the opposite sex and check them out based on their clothes and phones. So pretty much like anywhere else in the world.

But, she said, for the vast majority of young people in North Korea, they’re too busy trying to scrape a living to enjoy themselves.

Incidentally, why no smiling on July 8? That’s the day on which in 1994, North Korean President Kim Il Sung died at age 82. He had led the country since its founding in 1948.