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Skinny jeans a hit in North Korea
They sure aren't into the relaxed fit. Hat tip to Josh Stanton.
SKINNY jeans, blue crabs, pig-intestine rolls and even human manure were some of the hottest items among North Korean consumers this year, according to a South Korean professor who has interviewed recent defectors from the communist country.

Kim Young Soo, a political science professor at Seoul's Sogang University, said in a conference on Tuesday that adult movies, television dramas and instant noodle 'ramen' made in South Korea are also selling 'like hot cakes' in North Korea.

Skinny jeans refer to slim-fit pants that have gained popularity around the world, said Prof Kim who interviewed about 2,000 defectors this year as part of a research project for the government. He said that skinny jeans are so popular in the North's capital, Pyongyang, that people there sometimes mistakenly believe Chinese wearing the stylish clothes are roaming their capital.
Whereas it's just starving North Koreans in childrens' clothing.
'These are signs that North Korea is easing its isolation,' Prof Kim said in a telephone interview, noting that such lifestyle changes are conspicuous in Pyongyang and areas near the border with China.

The professor said many of the defectors he has interviewed had stayed in China no longer than a month before they came to South Korea, allowing him to have a relatively up-to-date glimpse of the latest culture in the communist country.
Posted by: Steve White 2011-01-05
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=313247