North Korean Men now required to get Kim Jong Un haircut

So if you're bald, do you have to get a Kim wig? That country is beyond ridiculous, but at least weed is legal there.

http://www.theweek.com/article.php?id=258766

i don't know but that artwork in your avatar is mind-blowing

fun fact: less than 700 people in N. Korea have internet access

it begins

'tis a small tradeoff for crazy commie cannabis.

File not found.

/writes small diatribe reminding thread of all the shit NK has had to put up with after 60 years of not being able to freely engage with the world and so modernize due to an US military blockade.

/chengod comes in with a 20 paragraph tour de force of compounded bad looking minutia to blacken the regime's name

/eugene agrees but says it doesn't go far enough, rattles off bunch of falsehoods about funding terror and so on.

/the fence sitters gruffly poo poo delet's deviation from the status quo whilst quoting chengod and eugene.

/a few bright eyed youngsters dare to think past the status quo

/youngsters idealistic championing of a course to greater knowledge and understanding gets heavily quoted and stomped on with sarcasm and aggression

..... and so on

/Thread mysteriously disappears.

The oracle has spoken.

Awesome!

/waits for delete to write an essay how forced haircut uniformity is a reasonable resistance against american imperialism and not another retarded gesture in an 70 year history of completely retarded politics from a family of retarded and megalomaniac rulers.

(and for some factual tidbit, nk could trade with the whole commie bloc throughout the history and can do so now with its remnants)

need photos of this, ASAP!

a) the forced haircut thing is most likely not true, and even if it isn't, it's stupid and inconsequential.

b) weed is not legal there.

c) the regime is fucked, but sanctions don't help - however even during periods when the US government was more lax in its application of sanctions, North Korea consistently made internal decisions that were not in line with international norms.

d) certainly more than 700 people in NK have internet access, it's over 9000.

e) because of its isolation from much of the communist bloc, trade was generally limited to first the Soviet Republic and then the Chinese. As it stands now (although reporting on economic matters from NK is difficult due to inability to verify numbers), the vast majority of North Korean trade is with China, and their isolation probably enables China to distort market prices.

And finally, viewing the country as ridiculous is precisely why stories like this are able to spread.

  On 3/27/2014 at 9:34 PM, chenGOD said:

a) the forced haircut thing is most likely not true, and even if it isn't, it's stupid and inconsequential.

b) weed is not legal there.

c) the regime is fucked, but sanctions don't help - however even during periods when the US government was more lax in its application of sanctions, North Korea consistently made internal decisions that were not in line with international norms.

d) certainly more than 700 people in NK have internet access, it's over 9000.

e) because of its isolation from much of the communist bloc, trade was generally limited to first the Soviet Republic and then the Chinese. As it stands now (although reporting on economic matters from NK is difficult due to inability to verify numbers), the vast majority of North Korean trade is with China, and their isolation probably enables China to distort market prices.

 

And finally, viewing the country as ridiculous is precisely why stories like this are able to spread.

The BBC reported this yesterday, but I see the story has been deleted now.

  On 3/27/2014 at 9:34 PM, chenGOD said:

a) the forced haircut thing is most likely not true, and even if it isn't, it's stupid and inconsequential.

b) weed is not legal there.

c) the regime is fucked, but sanctions don't help - however even during periods when the US government was more lax in its application of sanctions, North Korea consistently made internal decisions that were not in line with international norms.

d) certainly more than 700 people in NK have internet access, it's over 9000.

e) because of its isolation from much of the communist bloc, trade was generally limited to first the Soviet Republic and then the Chinese. As it stands now (although reporting on economic matters from NK is difficult due to inability to verify numbers), the vast majority of North Korean trade is with China, and their isolation probably enables China to distort market prices.

 

And finally, viewing the country as ridiculous is precisely why stories like this are able to spread.

So North Korea is just misunderstood?

  On 3/27/2014 at 9:34 PM, chenGOD said:

a) the forced haircut thing is most likely not true, and even if it isn't, it's stupid and inconsequential.

b) weed is not legal there.

c) the regime is fucked, but sanctions don't help - however even during periods when the US government was more lax in its application of sanctions, North Korea consistently made internal decisions that were not in line with international norms.

d) certainly more than 700 people in NK have internet access, it's over 9000.

e) because of its isolation from much of the communist bloc, trade was generally limited to first the Soviet Republic and then the Chinese. As it stands now (although reporting on economic matters from NK is difficult due to inability to verify numbers), the vast majority of North Korean trade is with China, and their isolation probably enables China to distort market prices.

 

And finally, viewing the country as ridiculous is precisely why stories like this are able to spread.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100240700/did-you-know-its-legal-to-smoke-weed-in-north-korea-dude-suddenly-it-all-makes-sense/

Hey Rubin, the stuff the vice guys bought in the market was not weed. One of my very good friends with a lot of experience and time spent in North Korea would back me up on this.

I'll copy and past some Facebook conversations on the topic which include one of the authors of the vice article (which is where all of the rumors started).

Cheers.

Limpy, there is a lot of terrible reporting on North Korea, precisely because so few people outside of the very small community of North Korea watchers/academics/engagers know much about the country. I would say that there are a lot of misunderstandings about North Korea, including the idea that their leadership is crazy.

  On 3/28/2014 at 12:20 AM, chenGOD said:

I would say that there are a lot of misunderstandings about North Korea, including the idea that their leadership is crazy.

Whoa, you had me until this. Would you be willing to explain more?

So, about that haircut:yeah, i guess the NKs are finally in touch with international trends.

DPRK FUCK YEAH

As an American would it be in poor taste to get a Kim Jong hair cut, or is it too soon what with the recent human rights relevations?

How American is "Just do it"?

It's the American way, baby.
NK-Style here I come.

Sexy beast

even if weed were legal there itd be totally irrelevant to pretty much any discussion about NK, so why is it always one of the first things brought up? i'm hoping its in a joking sense usually...

weed being legal doesn't make up for this

especially not considering the fact that 10-20yrs ago when i used to go out looking for weed (in the midwest US), i could usually pretty much always find it, no prob. and now it seems even easier all over. sure there is the risk of being busted for possession but ffs if weed is the most important thing in your life i think you have other issues besides weed laws

  On 3/28/2014 at 12:20 AM, chenGOD said:

Limpy, there is a lot of terrible reporting on North Korea, precisely because so few people outside of the very small community of North Korea watchers/academics/engagers know much about the country. I would say that there are a lot of misunderstandings about North Korea, including the idea that their leadership is crazy.

  On 3/28/2014 at 2:37 AM, fiznuthian said:

 

Whoa, you had me until this. Would you be willing to explain more?

 

As in the leadership isn't detached from reality or mentally unfit...I don't think he's endorsing them whatsoever.

Perfectly sane people can lead a country with delusion, misinformation, progaganda on all levels, well-executed brutality, etc. DPRK is so transparent in our perspective in their dictorship that it's an easy target. This is hugely beneficial to Western and American leadership. Satire and parody is all fine and dandy but coupled with ignorance it can quickly become "fact" to most and that's quite a frustrating thing to behold for experts.

Also, while it's clearly a superior government and society in every statistical regard, the ROK has a storied and checkered human rights record as well. Likewise [and most Westerners who have been there can vouch for this] South Korean society has some very strange and flat-out bizarre attributes to it. It's hardly covered as often by American journalists as North Korean traits, and when they are it's often in a fair more trivial manner.

yeh but SK gave us gandam style