Kim Jong Un has reportedly banned North Koreans from eating hotdogs and ordered imprisonment for divorcing couples in a bizarre new crackdown.
The despot, 40, claims that the popular fast food dish is too Western and says that serving the food will now be deemed an act of treason.
Anyone in the hermit state caught selling hotdogs on the streets or cooking the American sausage dish in their homes risks being shipped off to labour camps.
Speaking to The Sun, a vendor in the northern province of Ryanggang said: ‘Sales of budae-jjigae in the market have stopped’.
Budae-jjigae is a spicy Korean-American fusion dish made from broth, Korean hot pepper paste, kimchi, American Spam, beans, and sausage.
The dish was imported from affluent, pro-Western South Korea in 2017.
The vendor also confirmed to the newspaper that North Korean police and market management have said anyone caught selling the savoury meal will be shut down.
The bizarre move is part of the regime’s ongoing efforts to suppress what it views as decadent, capitalist culture infiltrating the country.
Kim Jong Un, 40, has reportedly banned North Koreans from eating hotdogs and ordered imprisonment for divorcing couples
The North Korean leader claims that the American dish is too Western
Budae-jjigae, a spicy Korean-American fusion dish made from broth, Korean hot pepper paste, kimchi, American Spam, beans, and sausage, has also been banned
Jong Un has also ordered divorcing couples be sent to labour camp to pay the ultimate price for their ‘crimes’.
As part of the new ‘crackdown’ the tyrant leader wants both parties to serve up to six months as a break up of marriage is viewed as ‘anti-socialist’.
Women could potentially face longer sentences according to reports.
This represents a toughening of existing laws, which previously only punished the party seeking the divorce – even in cases of physical abuse.
Under the new rules, both spouses will face imprisonment once the divorce is finalised, reported Radio Free Asia (RFA).
A resident of the northern Ryanggang province said: ‘I went to the Kimjongsuk County People’s Court… where 12 people received divorce decrees.
‘Immediately after the verdict, they were transferred to the county labour training camp.
The despot has also ordered divorcing couples to be sent to labour camps to atone for their ‘crimes’
Divorcing couples will have to spend up to six months in North Korea labour camps. Pictured: Sinuiju concentration camp (Kyo-hwa-so Number 3) – a reeducation camp in North Korea
‘Until last year, when a couple divorced, only the person who first filed for divorce was sent to a labor training camp’.
According to the resident, however, starting this month, all divorced couples will be sent to labour training camps.
RFA reported that divorce rates had increased on the back of Covid-19 when lockdown constraints put couples up against it financially.
Rates of divorce are not said to have significantly dropped even though citizens are now threatened with public humiliation and expulsion from the Korean Workers’ Party.
Jong Un has ruled North Korea with an iron fist since 2011, and in that time has introduced a spate of bizarre laws.
But rising concerns over his health have raised questions about who his heir will be.
The Supreme Leader was seen on New Year’s Day with his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, in what has been deemed the latest sign he has chosen her to be his successor.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae attend an event to celebrate the New Year, in Pyongyang
The father-daughter outing comes amid mounting speculation that Ju Ae could be the next in line to rule North Korea
Footage from the event showed the dictator walking down a red carpet while holding his beaming daughter’s hand as they arrived to watch the fireworks display and ring in the new year.
The father-daughter outing comes amid mounting speculation that Ju Ae could be the next in line to rule North Korea.
The young girl, who is believed to be around 12 years old, has been described by North Korea’s state media as a ‘great person of guidance’ – a term typically reserved exclusively for top leaders and their successors.
The daughter of Kim and First Lady Ri Sol Ju, Ju Ae was hidden away from foreign media through childhood until American former basketball player Dennis Rodman revealed her existence following a visit to North Korea in 2013.
But little was known about Ju Ae, believed to be the middle child of three, until she made her first public appearance at the time of a missile launch in November 2022.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk