SHAH ALAM - North Korea has reportedly launched a nationwide crackdown on women suspected of getting breast implants, with the Kim Jong Un regime branding the cosmetic procedure as “non-socialist” and “capitalist behaviour.”
According to The Telegraph, the country’s security forces are now on high alert, carrying out strict inspections to identify women who show “suspicious physical changes.”
Neighbourhood committee leaders have also been ordered to ‘spy on’ residents and report anyone suspected of having undergone cosmetic surgery for investigation.
Under North Korea’s rigid laws, any form of aesthetic surgery, from breast enlargement to double eyelid procedures, is considered anti-socialist and strictly forbidden.
Those caught can face severe punishment, including imprisonment or forced labour.
Public trial over breast implant sparks fear across city
The latest crackdown reportedly began after a doctor and two women in their 20s were dragged before a public trial at the Sariwon City Cultural Hall in North Hwanghae Province in mid-September.
The doctor, who allegedly never completed his medical degree, was accused of performing illegal cosmetic procedures, while the women were charged with being “tainted by bourgeois customs” and showing “corrupt capitalist behaviour.”
During the trial, the judge declared that the accused had “failed to show loyalty to the organisation” and had become “poisonous weeds eroding socialism.”
To drive the message home, authorities displayed confiscated silicone implants, smuggled medical equipment, and bundles of cash as “evidence”, turning the event into a public morality show.
Locals divided and terrified
Reports by Daily NK said locals who attended the trial were divided — some slammed the doctor for “doing anything for money,” while others sympathised, saying he was “just trying to make a living.”
Now, many women in Sariwon reportedly live in fear, afraid they’ll be called in for inspection if they look “too pretty” or “too different.”
International observers say the clampdown is part of North Korea’s long-running effort to stamp out foreign cultural influences and ensure citizens strictly adhere to the state’s version of “pure socialism.”