“Wearing unusual clothing is an act of submission to the enemy”

People filmed against their will for sporting unacceptable clothing and hairstyles. Image / NK Times.

One of the hard-to-imagine aspects of life for young people in North Korea is the inherent danger in any attempt to follow fashions that are normal in other countries.

Mistakes regarding youthful self-expression carry such harsh penalties that the country resembles the most fundamental of religious states, except that the religion in question is political. Worship of the leader is the only faith permitted in the officially atheist nation. 

In recent years, the subversive effect of South Korean and Chinese culture has led authorities to intensify the already draconian restrictions.

Youth League Committees since 2023 have been educating youngsters in the old “truth” that how you wear your clothes and do your hair can constitute an “act of submission to the ideological and cultural infiltration of the enemy.” 

One such educational video is called, “Let’s intensify the struggle against unconventional clothing and grooming.” 

In it, the narrator says, “The enemy’s ideological and cultural infiltration targeting our youth continues without end.” 

“All labor organizations must intensify their struggle against unconventional clothing and grooming so that only national sentiment, and a beautiful and refined lifestyle, overflow throughout society,” he says.

The educational video decries the fact that, despite the ruling Workers’ Party’s “long-standing emphasis on youth and workers aligning their clothing and grooming with our style and traditions,” a lot of young people “have yet to wake up and are still dressing and grooming in a way that is embarrassing, strutting around the streets and villages.”

The message is not a new one. Authorities have campaigned since the late 1980s to enforce fashion standards that “align with socialist lifestyles.” 

Analysts say that enforcement under Kim Jong-un, who inherited power in 2011, is far stricter than it was in the days of his father, Kim Jong-il. For example, in the past educational sessions on permitted fashions were held three to five times a year, while now they are held two or three times each spring, summer, and fall. Surveillance and punishment has also intensified.

The increased zeal may be a result of a change in 2015, when the Central Propaganda and Agitation Department delegated the production and distribution of the education material to provincial party committees.

The propaganda divisions of local committees have established “Unconventional Clothing and Grooming Surveillance and Filming Teams,” which have been producing videos focusing on local offenders.

The shots here from the video we obtained shows young people in their 20s being harassed and filmed by inspection squads.

“Kim [name withheld], from block 00, is wearing pants so tight around the hips and thighs that it’s embarrassing for anyone who sees him,” the narrator says. 

The video publicly reveals the names, ages, and residential addresses of the young people being forcibly inspected.

The narrator goes on to say, “Instead of reflecting on his behavior when inspectors pointed out his unconventional attire, [name withheld] instead tried to justify his flaws.” It characterized him as “acting irrationally.” 

“Young people who wear unusual clothes and get body modifications are not in their right minds,” the narrator says. “They are aligning with and submitting to the ideological and cultural infiltration of the enemy.”

Kim Se-won

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