NORTH Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has reportedly given mullets the chop – banning the retro hairstyle along with skinny jeans in a swipe at "Western decadence."
His decision was out of concern that they reflect Western cultures that might influence young people in the country and impact his regime.
North Korea recognizes 15 approved haircuts, Yahoo News reported citing an editorial by the North Korean newspaper The Rondong Sinmun.
“We must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them,” the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea read.
He also banned T-shirts that featured slogans and nose and lip piercings.
"History teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall regardless of its economic and defence power if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle," the Rondong Sinmun editorial continued.
Yonhap News Agency said that the editorial was meant to warn young people over “exotic and decadent” lifestyles, according to Yahoo News.
The news of the banned fashion items comes as part of new laws in the country.
This includes banning South Korean K-pop bands in efforts to halt the influence of foreign cultures.
The North Korean leader previously banned Chinese medicines in Pyongyang hospitals after an official reportedly died from a dose of a Chinese-manufactured medicine cocarboxylase.
The medicine is used to treat patients who suffer from fatigue.
North Korean nuclear weapons and missile tests could resume in an attempt to force the US to roll back sanctions, according to a top general.
The general picked to lead American forces in Korea said on Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may see an opportunity to push diplomacy with the US, but may also take "coercive steps."
"It appears quite [in North Korea] given all the other things that are going on, but I have no doubt that the adversaries in the north … he is trying to preserve his country and his legacy," Army Gen Paul LaCamera told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"If confirmed, one of the things I'll have to monitor is all of his combat capabilities, both conventional, nuclear, and unconventional, that pose a threat to our mission."
LaCamera noted that Kim has boasted of new weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the US, recently.
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