North Korean leader Kim rails against long-haired men- report

The bouffant-haired dictator was outraged at the hairdos while watching a university match and ordered all men to go clean-cut, the Mainichi Shimbun said in its evening edition, quoting an unnamed source close to the regime.Â

 

It said the match was believed to have taken place earlier this month as speculation swirled overseas about the health of Kim, who failed to show up at the communist states 60th anniversary parade on Sept. 9.

 

"I think it is untidy and not befitting for athletes" to grow long hair, Kim said while watching the game between Kim Il-Sung University and Pyongyang University of Railways, the Mainichi said in a dispatch from Beijing.

 

"What kind of haircuts are these? If things are like this, you cannot tell whether this is a men’s football match or women’s," Kim said angrily, according to the Mainichi source.

 

The frustrated Kim stopped watching the match after the first half, the Mainichi said, adding that it was unclear whether the leader actually was present at the stadium or watched the game on television.

 

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Oct. 4 that Kim watched a football match at an unspecified date.

 

"After watching the match, leader Kim Jong-Il congratulated the players on their good results, saying that the revolutionary and militant students in our country are good at art and sporting activities while devoting all their wisdom and enthusiasm to the study of science for the country and the people," it said at the time.

 

Japan's Yomiuri and Sankei newspapers reported that North Korea was on the verge of a major announcement, possibly on Kim’s health, although South Korean officials said Monday they detected no unusual signs from the North.

 

Photo: Reuters