STALINIST North Korea has stepped up its campaign against long hair and untidy attire which its media says represents a "corrupt capitalist" lifestyle, reports said.
Paging Michael Moore!North Korean state television, radio and newspapers have led the grooming drive, urging people to cut their hair short and to dress tidily, the BBC said in a dispatch citing broadcasts from Pyongyang. Men were asked to have crew cuts with hair growing up to five centimetres in a twice-a-month visit to the barber, it said. Not only health and hygiene but also intelligence was cited by the North Korean media as reasons for the crackdown on appearance. Pyongyang television noted long hair "consumes a great deal of
The ruling communist party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, even warned inappropriate appearance under foreign influence could lead to national decay. "People who wear other's style of dress and live in other's style will become fools and that nation will come to ruin," Rodong was cited as saying.