Kim Jong Un Cracks Down on “Unsocialist” Breast Implants
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In a dramatic escalation of control over personal life, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly launched a sweeping crackdown on women suspected of having breast implants, calling the procedure an “un-socialist act.” Under this newly asserted policy, cosmetic surgeries such as breast augmentation are being framed as evidence of bourgeois or capitalist corruption infiltrating socialist ideals.
According to sources cited by Daily NK and other outlets, a doctor and two women in their twenties were publicly tried in Sariwon earlier this fall for participating in illegal breast surgeries. During the trial, authorities displayed evidence including silicone implants, cash, and surgical tools, branding the offenders as purveyors of vanity and ideological impurity.
What’s Reported to Be Happening Because of Kim Jong Un
- The Ministry of Social Security is said to have issued an order in September urging authorities to detect and punish cases of breast augmentation.
- “Strike teams” in plain clothes are rumored to be on patrol in central districts, tasked with spotting women whose bodies appear altered.
- Women suspected of undergoing implant surgeries may be physically examined to verify whether implants are present. If found guilty, the women and surgeons could face punishment, including forced labor camps.
- At the trial, prosecutors attacked the women for embracing “bourgeois customs,” calling them “poisonous weeds” undermining the socialist system.
Because cosmetic surgery is already illegal in North Korea, this crackdown is intensifying enforcement in a sphere previously tolerated only in clandestine form.
Why This Matters
Control Over Women’s Bodies as Ideological Control
By policing cosmetic procedures, the regime is asserting not just political control, but moral and aesthetic control over individuals — especially women. It places physical appearance under the surveillance of the state, equating bodily modification with ideological disloyalty.
Punishing Vanity as a Crime
Moreover, labeling breast augmentation as “vanity” and “bourgeois” ties cosmetic desire to political deviance. The message is clear: altering your appearance for self-expression may now be a punishable offense.
Chilling Effect & Fear
Additionally, with reports of physical inspections and undercover monitoring, many women may now live in fear that their bodies will be scrutinized. The possibility of forced labor or public shame looms for those who depart—even slightly—from state-approved norms.

Broader Cultural Message
This crackdown is part of a broader push by the regime to suppress what it views as foreign influence and sentimental individualism. Cosmetic surgery is painted as a Western vice that threatens the purity of socialist values.
Conclusion
Kim Jong Un’s crackdown on breast implants represents a chilling expansion of state control — from political speech to the contours of women’s bodies. By equating cosmetic surgery with capitalist corruption, the regime is signaling that even personal self-care is now subject to ideological policing.
Should these reports prove accurate, they betray not just a fear of plastic surgery but a fear of femininity, self-determination, and personal agency under a system that demands absolute conformity.
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