North Korea bans wearing bags ‘off the shoulder’ as symbol of Western decadence
sg.news.yahoo.com
North Korean patriot patrols are haranguing citizens for carrying bags slung over just one shoulder because it is un-socialist.
Anyone caught on their way to school or work with a bag over one shoulder is being stopped and lectured against copying the people of capitalist South Korea.
Transgressors have had their bags confiscated or even been expelled from school in some cases, Radio Free Asia reported, citing sources inside the country.
In the most extreme cases, reoffending bag carriers are being punished with spells in labour camps, RFA reported.
North Korean citizens are being told that the appropriate way to carry a bag is in the approved socialist style – worn on the back with straps over both shoulders or held in the grip of one hand.
Another source confirmed that college students “prefer to wear shoulder bags with long straps at their sides because they often watch South Korean TV shows”.
At the opening ceremony for a teacher training college in Pyongsong, officials announced that anyone found carrying a bag over one shoulder would be punished “for spreading the culture of the South Korean puppets”, the source added.
Copying the trends of South Korea is also likely to attract additional scrutiny from the authorities as many young North Koreans affect the mannerisms and slang of their neighbours after watching television dramas and films smuggled into the North.
Human rights groups have reported that dozens of people – including many children – have been sentenced to long prison terms or even executed after being caught watching foreign programming.
Shoulder bags have joined a growing list of behaviours considered contrary to the nation’s socialist principles, with numerous reports emerging from the North in recent years about people being reported for wearing clothing that deviates from the baggy Chairman Mao-style suit or having a hairstyle that is not on the list of approved styles.
Pet owners have also been caught up in the drive for socialist purity and informed that having a dog at home is not compatible with the nation’s principles, while wedding banquets have also been branded as symptoms of capitalism. Even clinking wine glasses at the reception is frowned upon as an affectation of the degenerate West.
sg.news.yahoo.com
Anyone caught on their way to school or work with a bag over one shoulder is being stopped and lectured against copying the people of capitalist South Korea.
Transgressors have had their bags confiscated or even been expelled from school in some cases, Radio Free Asia reported, citing sources inside the country.
In the most extreme cases, reoffending bag carriers are being punished with spells in labour camps, RFA reported.
North Korean citizens are being told that the appropriate way to carry a bag is in the approved socialist style – worn on the back with straps over both shoulders or held in the grip of one hand.
Students influenced by South Korean TV
“A patrol organised by the Socialist Patriotic Youth League cracked down on a college student who wore a bag hanging by their side at the main gate of Hamhung Medical University,” a resident of the city told RFA. The person was not named for security reasons.Another source confirmed that college students “prefer to wear shoulder bags with long straps at their sides because they often watch South Korean TV shows”.
At the opening ceremony for a teacher training college in Pyongsong, officials announced that anyone found carrying a bag over one shoulder would be punished “for spreading the culture of the South Korean puppets”, the source added.
Copying the trends of South Korea is also likely to attract additional scrutiny from the authorities as many young North Koreans affect the mannerisms and slang of their neighbours after watching television dramas and films smuggled into the North.
Pet dogs and wedding banquets frowned upon
Kim Jong-un’s regime has in recent years been prosecuting a fierce campaign under the draconian Rejection of Reactionary Thought and Culture Law against external influences.Human rights groups have reported that dozens of people – including many children – have been sentenced to long prison terms or even executed after being caught watching foreign programming.
Shoulder bags have joined a growing list of behaviours considered contrary to the nation’s socialist principles, with numerous reports emerging from the North in recent years about people being reported for wearing clothing that deviates from the baggy Chairman Mao-style suit or having a hairstyle that is not on the list of approved styles.
Pet owners have also been caught up in the drive for socialist purity and informed that having a dog at home is not compatible with the nation’s principles, while wedding banquets have also been branded as symptoms of capitalism. Even clinking wine glasses at the reception is frowned upon as an affectation of the degenerate West.
