Public trial for breast implants? North Korea cracks down on cosmetic surgery, calls it ‘anti-socialist'

North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un

On the list of completely “normal” things that have been banned in North Korea, breast implants have now joined the list.

According to the Telegraph, Kim Jong-un’s regime has declared breast enlargement and other cosmetic surgeries as “bourgeois,” describing them as symbols of capitalist vanity that “erode the socialist system.”

A public trial for breast implants

The latest clampdown grabbed attention after a doctor and two young women were dragged before a public trial in Sariwon, a city about 75 km from Pyongyang. Their crime? Undergoing and performing breast implant procedures.

South Korean outlet Daily NK reported that the doctor had never completed medical school and was secretly carrying out surgeries at home using silicone smuggled in from China.

Prosecutors accused the women of being “tainted by bourgeois customs” and indulging in “rotten capitalist behaviour.” The judge went even further, declaring: “Instead of being loyal to the organisation and collective, they were consumed by vanity and became poisonous weeds that erode the socialist system.”

Perhaps the most disturbing detail, Daily NK reported, was that the Security Bureau had conducted physical checks on other women suspected of breast surgery, leaving the audience horrified.

Full-scale crackdown on cosmetic surgery

Following the trial, the Ministry of Public Safety reportedly issued an emergency order launching a full-scale crackdown on cosmetic surgery.

Neighbourhood watch units have been tasked with spotting women who may have had breast implants or even double-eyelid surgery. Those flagged will be sent to hospitals for physical examinations.

A source told Daily NK that “strike teams” in plain clothes are already patrolling central Pyongyang. Those caught could face criminal punishment, including labour training camps, under charges of “anti-socialist behaviour.”

Fear has spread in Sariwon, with young women reportedly terrified of being subjected to invasive checks if authorities suspect they’ve undergone surgery.

North Korea’s long list of bizarre bans

This is hardly the first time Pyongyang has aimed at personal freedoms in the name of resisting “Western influence.”

In recent months, even everyday words have been policed. Citizens can no longer say “ice cream,” “hamburger,” or “karaoke”; they must instead use state-approved alternatives. For example, “ice cream” is to be called eseukimo or eoreumboseungi, while “hamburger” translates to dajin-gogi gyeopppang (“double bread with ground beef”). Karaoke has been reduced to “on-screen accompaniment machine.”

Earlier this year, hot dogs were outlawed entirely, with consuming or selling them branded as treason. Reports also suggest tteokbokki, South Korea’s beloved spicy rice cakes, has been banned.

Fashion and grooming are equally restricted. Jeans, short skirts, flashy clothes, branded logos, high heels, and unauthorised makeup are off-limits. Even haircuts are regulated, with state-approved styles and strict rules on length.

A climate of extreme repression

Beyond lifestyle bans, international bodies say conditions are worsening. A recent United Nations review, cited by the BBC, reported that punishments for “Western influence” have grown harsher, with executions carried out against those caught watching foreign films or dramas.

The review noted that “no other population is under such restrictions in today’s world.”

From food to fashion to cosmetic surgery, North Korea’s regime continues to weaponise even the most personal aspects of life, treating them as battlegrounds in its fight against “capitalist corruption.”