Enjoy Your Hair Freedom

Next time you go for a trim, spare a thought for the male university students of North Korea who have been warned that they are required to get the same haircut as their leader Kim Jong-un. Severely limiting their choices, Kim Jong-un’s lawmakers have abolished the skinhead look, the mullet and almost every variation.

So whilst you guys can have almost any style that you could possible dream up, Kim’s boys will all be rocking the identikit extreme fade and long top.

This new law was introduced in the capital Pyongyang about two weeks ago and is currently being rolled out across the country. This has proved very unpopular in the country as many of the affected are not overly enamoured with the style.

One student told Radio Free Asia: “Our leader’s haircut is very particular, if you will. It does not always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes.”

Furthermore, Kim Jong-un’s haircut has drawn unfavourable comparisons with the styling of Chinese smugglers. “Until the mid-2000s, we called it the ‘Chinese Smuggler Haircut’”.

This is not the first time that the country has attempted to control the hair styles of their citizens. Reports suggest that women are restricted to 18 different hairstyle choices and men restricted to just 10. Additionally, there has been a national campaign against long hair, suggesting that it opposes the country’s socialist lifestyle.

The only saving grace for the university students of North Korea is that this law has come into effect now that Kim Jong-un is in power and not when his father Kim Jong-il was in charge. Jong-il sported an elaborate bouffant style in a bid to make himself look taller.

Stories emanating from the tabloid press that Jong-un had also banned One Direction from entering the country until they get their hair cut were later revealed to be an April Fools joke.