In an isolationist state seeking to exert total control over its citizens, any deviation in outward appearance can be punished with an uncertain fate in a labour camp.

Kim Jong-un’s regime was this week reported to be cracking down on young women who have had illegal breast implants and other forms of cosmetic surgery.

North Korea’s security services are said to be using undercover agents and neighbourhood watch groups to catch those carrying out and undergoing the procedures.

The crackdown, however, only tells part of the story.

One defector has said that the totalitarian regime controls ‘everything from fashion to the way that you sit’ — with blue jeans, hair dye and short skirts being banned. The repression of self-identity is about more than modesty or possible health complications

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