North Korea has rolled out a new edict, stipulating that male college students must wear their hair like Glorious Leader Kim Jong-un. It appears that Kim wants to be a trend-setter, and he has the clout to make it so. But the hairstyle isn’t popular -in fact, it has its own reputation.
"Our leader's haircut is very particular, if you will," one source tells Radio Free Asia. "It doesn't always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes." Meanwhile, a North Korean now living in China says the look is actually unpopular at home because people think it resembles Chinese smugglers. "Until the mid-2000s, we called it the 'Chinese smuggler haircut'," the Korea Times reports.
Of course, if all college men are wearing the hairstyle for any length of time, it will develop a new reputation, but in the long run, it will not be a good one. -Thanks, Daniel Kim!
Update: According to the Associated Press, the entire story is a hoax.