
North Korea: Men required to get Kim Jong-un haircuts - sarreph
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-26747649
======
sharkweek
Honest question - let's say at some point in the future North Korea sees their
current regime fall and a more democratic or at least benevolent dictatorship
takes over.

What sort of mass psychological issues are we looking at here? I can only
imagine how the minds of the current citizenship work, would it be nearly
impossible for those raised only knowing what they know to recover from the
previous trauma?

~~~
NotOscarWilde
I believe people everywhere in the world are used to supressing the difference
between the stated ideals of their land (equality, liberty, free elections)
and the reality (prejudices, xenophobia, racism, assassinations ordered by the
government, voter sway via public ads).

If our minds can supress the differences between ideals and reality in USA,
Russia, India, Pakistan, Japan or any other country of residence, I believe
North Koreans can do the same -- focus on their daily life and ignore the
atrocities.

All of that is just my opinion, obviously. My family adapted fine after the
fall of the Soviet Union, but that's just anecdotal.

~~~
Touche
Bribery is still a major problem in Russia. It takes a long time for a
population to adjust to things they are used to being part of every day life.

------
wil421
Look at the women in the center clapping, her face says it all. "Must clap
harder or leader will do away with me."

Someday these people are going to be free of oppression.

~~~
JonnieCache
_> Someday these people are going to be free of oppression._

If only they had some natural resources, then the state of their government
would be a massive moral issue for the world. Unfortunately until they strike
oil they're just gonna have to rot.

~~~
wil421
Yea its like nations say Russia cant take Crimea. Yet NK can slaughter and
oppress an entire nation and no one flinches.

~~~
JonnieCache
To be fair, russia can take crimea because nobody can stop them. NK can
oppress because nobody gives a shit.

(Also IIRC china protects them in order to irritate the west and to use as a
bargaining chip.)

~~~
wj
China also props them up to avoid the NK government collapsing thus sending
millions of North Korean refugees across the border.

------
gadders
I know people hate on StratFor (for no good reason IMO) but the below article
from them is an interesting summary:

[http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/ferocious-weak-and-crazy-
nort...](http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/ferocious-weak-and-crazy-north-korean-
strategy)

"When the Soviet Union collapsed, North Korea was left in dire economic
straits. There were reasonable expectations that its government would soon
collapse, leading to the unification of the Korean Peninsula. Naturally, the
goal of the North Korean government was regime survival, so it was terrified
that outside powers would invade or support an uprising against it. It needed
a strategy that would dissuade anyone from trying that. Being weak in every
sense, this wasn't going to be easy, but the North Koreans developed a
strategy that we described more than 10 years ago as ferocious, weak and
crazy. North Korea has pursued this course since the 1990s, and the latest
manifestation of this strategy was on display last week. The strategy has
worked marvelously and is still working."

I guess the haircuts would be the "crazy" part of the strategy.

------
willvarfar
I was really expecting this to be an Onion article or something...

~~~
antonius
I was too until I read the "North Korea" part. Then it all made sense.

~~~
S_A_P
Isn't North Korean media just one big onion bureau? With the unfortunate truth
that what they report happens to be at the expense of a whole nation of people
minus .01%?

------
swayvil
Excuse me but I find this haircut rather unattractive..

ONE MILLION YEARS DUNGEON!

------
nwh
I don't follow the reasoning. It's a country that's stuck in a variety of
awkward situations with its neighbours, isolated, famine stricken, and
threatening to wage war on the South- yet they're worrying about the people
having too much freedom with their 10 allowed haircuts? I can't begin to
imagine what's going on in their minds. I suppose it could be a distraction
from other issues, but restricting to 10 in itself seems almost unreal.

~~~
kjjw
I think the point is that it doesn't matter what is going on in 'their' minds.
All that matters is what is going on in the mind of one particular person.

~~~
JanezStupar
Do you honestly believe a single person can produce that much insanity?

~~~
kjjw
In a round about way, I think so. Did he suggest this? Perhaps not. Is he
responsible for the environment that created this decision? I think so.

~~~
JanezStupar
I think that he is as much of a hostage as he is a perpetrator.

------
Theodores
In multi-cultural countries people have significantly different hair. In North
Korea hair is somewhat harmonised, i.e. black and straight. Length is the only
variable available to play with when it comes to style of cut. From their
perspective this edict may be no more of a big deal than having to have your
fingernails trimmed.

~~~
xerula
You lack imagination about all the different things that can be done with
uniformly black, straight, fine hair. Length is not the only variable, and
there is still a huge range of hairstyles that people could choose from if
they were free to do so.

Also, if I was subject to an edict requiring me to trim my fingernails, that
would be a pretty big deal to me. A big, intolerable deal. You imply that from
their perspective it wouldn't be, but are you so much of a cultural relativist
that you think such a perspective isn't seriously unhealthy?

~~~
Theodores
I am a troll with short, black hair! And cynical too!

------
MarkTee
Wow, in 2005 they produced a hidden-camera series that outed "long-haired"
men, revealing their names and addresses on national TV.

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-
pacific/4157121.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4157121.stm)

------
ginko
Kinda seems like the queue order during the Qing dynasty in China.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queue_%28hairstyle%29#Queue_Or...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queue_%28hairstyle%29#Queue_Order)

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aurumpotest
What about bald men? Will they be punished for not being physically able to
replicate the hairstyle? It's just mental. Thank god they're not doing the
same thing with David Cameron...

~~~
snorkel
Bald adults and infants will be issued wigs.

------
andyjohnson0
Related: _Hair, beards and power - Taking it on the chin_ [1]

[1]
[http://www.economist.com/node/16743613](http://www.economist.com/node/16743613)

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jwmoz
To be honest, I think he's got a pretty good fade.

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mukundmr
What is the authentic source for this? BBC says "it is reported". Who reported
it and where?

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mavdi
somebody blow up his little shitty head already

------
Istof
as long as it's free (no pun intended)

~~~
valarauca1
Everything is free in The Democratic Republic of Korea. Glorious Eternal
Leader pays for everything. This is why everyone votes for socialism every
time. Free healthcare, food, education, transportation.

~~~
Istof
even email is free over there

~~~
valarauca1
They even went and made it illegal to talk ill about the Eternal Glorious
Leader, I mean how could speak ill of the creator of such a glorious socialist
paradise?!

