Male Hair Styles In North Korea

Male Hair Styles In North Korea

According to recent news reports North Korean heir-apparent Kim Jong-un's hair styles have become the hottest haircuts for male in that country.

Although the hair style is currently the rage in North Korea its very possible that the hair style will start showing up in other parts of the world as a hot new hair style trend.

Kim Jong-un's hair styles are based around a very high-sided hair cut with an explosion of hair along the top and at the crown of the head. The hair is shiny as if it's been partially slicked back or dressed with hair oils.

The hair at the hairline is directed off a short center part with each of the two sides curving slightly onto the forehead.

The combination of the sheared sides and the raven black hair sprouting from the top of the head makes for a very dramatic look.

The slicked-back, high-sided haircut is a fashion hit in Pyongyang where young men are lining up for a similar cut. 

Believed to be in his mid to late 20s, Kim is popularly known as the "Young General."   His fashions and appearance are designed to   to look like his late grandfather, the North Korean's founder, Kim Il-sung.

The youngest son of the current leader, Kim Jong-il, lightly slicks his hair back at the top, and has it trimmed to the scalp to about an inch above the ears.  Finishing his look, Kim wears dark Mao-style suits.  Kim is campaigning for dynasty succession for North Korea.

North Korean state news agency KCNA quoted barber An Su-gil as saying the short-cut, medium-cut and square-cut hairstyles are now extremely popular among young men.  The young Kim's haircut is dubbed a "youth" or "ambition" hairstyle in North Korea, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper has reported.

North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun wrote in September that neat and short hair for young people makes them "captivating."   "A young man with (an) ambitious high sided haircut looks so sobering and stylish," the paper added.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said that North Korean young men prefer short hairstyle for sanitary reasons, not just because they want to look neat and ambitious.

Kim Jong-un emerged as the reclusive North's leader-in-waiting last year when he was named a four-star general and given a prominent post within the ruling party.   This year he has regularly been photographed alongside his father during visits by foreign officials which has provided the world with a chance to see his now popular haircut.

A big question is whether or not the high sided square hair style will make it's way to Europe and/or America.  It sill be interesting to watch to see if the hair style makes it's way stateside in the near future.