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Are these the 18 state-sanctioned haircuts for women in North Korea?

This photograph has been doing the rounds online, claiming to show the official haircuts for women in the country. But is this really the case?

WHEN IT COMES to North Korea, sometimes it feels as though the truth is stranger than fiction.

From its nuclear tests to its intriguing leaders, its lack of internet to its mobile phone restrictions for visitors, it is a country rich in strange and often discomfiting stories.

The latest unusual tale to go around is that there are state-sanctioned haircuts for women – and 18 of them, no less.

This photograph, taken by David Guttenfelder of Press Association Images, has been doing the rounds on Twitter for the last few days, having appeared on The Guardian website with the caption:

North Korean women are encouraged by the state to choose from one of the 18 officially sanctioned hairstyles, as shown in this display on the wall of a salon in the capital

It was then picked up by Reddit with the caption ‘North Korea’s 18 state sanctioned female hairstyles’:

The original photograph on the Press Association site has a different caption:

Photos showing example hair styles hang inside a hair salon in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013.

This piqued our interest at TheJournal.ie. Why did the photo appear with such a different caption, one that led to it being re-tweeted on a rapid basis since Friday?

Hair in Korea

We weren’t the only ones wondering. One Reddit/Imgur commenter got to the heart of the issue, linking to this KoreaBang.com essay about North Korean hairstyles for women.

However, their link, posted three days ago, wasn’t picked up at the same rate as the Imgur photo was tweeted.

It turns out that in North Korea, there are some very distinct hairstyles, ones which are chosen for very specific reasons. Whether a woman is in traditional or Western dress, is a student or is unmarried, for example, dictate what sort of style she goes for.

Interestingly, in the third photo on the KoreaBang essay, we see that there are more than 18 example haircuts shown in one salon – but some of the photos are the same as in the Press Association photo.

There is no doubt that there are strict social rules around haircuts in North Korea (and that some of the hairstyles would have been popular decades ago here), and that the approach to them in turn reflects the rigidness of the country’s political regime.

In 2005 it was reported that North Korea encouraged men to only wear short hair to a certain length in accordance with the socialist lifestyle, and in 2009 that the late Kim Jong-Il was said to have launched a campaign against untidy and foreign hairstyles. Hair clearly is a political issue in North Korea.

Photos showing example hair styles hang inside a barber shop in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, February 20, 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

People in North Korea do commit to haircuts within a specific range of styles, but whether they are ‘State-sanctioned’ is not exactly clear.

We can assume, however, that North Korea being the country it is, there isn’t much divergence from the norm, even when it comes to hair.

Read: North Korea loosens mobile phone restrictions for visitors>

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27 Comments
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    Mute Derek Murphy
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    Mar 4th 2022, 1:59 PM

    Strikes me as a little odd reporting sentences as a combination. It’s as if article is attempting to make their punishment out to be more severe than it actually is.

    When you consider the fact that prisoners very often only serve about half of their sentences the headline might be more accurately written as

    “Three brothers will spend roughly 3-4 years each in prison after string of robberies”

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    Mute John Mulligan
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    Mar 4th 2022, 2:46 PM

    @Derek Murphy: and after effectively ensuring that severall sma towns and villages will no longer have ATMs.

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    Mute Rob Gale
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    Mar 4th 2022, 1:34 PM

    Irish Judges: robbing banks?? 20 years!!

    Also Irish Judges: se.x.ually assualted your own kids for a decade? Meh.. 5 years. Out in 3.

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    Mute Hannah
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    Mar 4th 2022, 2:04 PM

    @Rob Gale: It’s actually 20 years combined.

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    Mute Jonathan Barr
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    Mar 4th 2022, 2:25 PM

    @Hannah: They gave someone 30 years for kidnapping a wealthy business man. But do it to a child for their whole life and you get a suspended sentence. It’s shocking really. If we can give large sentences like that for these crimes how can they justify not giving them for child abuse?

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    Mute Mike Kennedy
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    Mar 4th 2022, 2:30 PM

    @Rob Gale: neither sentence is anywhere near enough, joke

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    Mute Hannah
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    Mar 4th 2022, 6:38 PM

    @Jonathan Barr: I fully agree with you.

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    Mute Chris Mc
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    Mar 4th 2022, 2:17 PM

    We seriously need more prison spaces in this country.

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    Mute Dsds
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    Mar 4th 2022, 3:10 PM

    @Chris Mc: why not export our prisoners to countries willing to take them. Who says they have to be imprisoned here ? The cost of a prisoner per year in ireland is easily in excess of 100k. Put that out to tender. The Chinese might house them for 10k per year. Going to prison might not be seen as so cushy then…..

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    Mute Ciaran Leonard
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    Mar 4th 2022, 2:53 PM

    Bit of a joke headline – 20 year combined. That means nothing – the two longest sentences were 8 yrs 9 months, with one year suspended. That means about 5 years and 10 months with remission! Very dishonest journalism!

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    Mute AndyM
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    Mar 4th 2022, 5:17 PM

    @Ciaran Leonard: actually that would be 6 years and 6 months with standard remission

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    Mute JJ
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    Mar 4th 2022, 5:34 PM

    Is the €790,000 nicely tucked away for the release in a couple of years?

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