Breast augmentation has been banned in North Korea: Kim Jong-un calls implants «rotting capitalism»
In North Korea, the authorities have launched a campaign against plastic surgery, including breast augmentation. Kim Jong-un called the implants an «anti-socialist manifestation» and «rotting capitalism,» according to New York Post with reference to the South Korean media.
The trial of women and a doctor
According to the publication Chosun Ilbo, In the city of Sarivon, a public trial was held in which two young women and a doctor who allegedly performed illegal breast augmentation surgeries were put on trial.
During the hearing, North Korean officials displayed medical instruments, implants and money as «evidence of capitalist behaviour».
For such actions, defendants face severe penalties ranging from forced labour to imprisonment.
Mass inspections and “neighbourhood committees”
After Kim Jong-un's decision, the country began mass checks on women, who are suspected of plastic surgery.
Local «observation groups» have been instructed to pay attention to changes in appearance and report them to the authorities. According to sources, in some regions, women have already been Forced to undergo medical examinations.
Ideological campaign against “bourgeois beauty”
According to experts, the DPRK authorities interpret cosmetic surgery as a threat to socialist morality. Any attempts to imitate Western beauty standards are considered a manifestation of «ideological decay».
Similar campaigns have already taken place in North Korea, including against the wearing of jeans, hair colouring and foreign songs.
Context.
Pyongyang has repeatedly claimed that Western fashion and plastic surgery undermine the «purity of the Korean nation's spirit».
The latest wave of repression is part of the regime's broader programme to control over the body and mind of citizens.
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