The already pretty North Korean women in 2005. (Reuters)
We all know that South Korean women are fans of cosmetic surgery, but the North Koreans?
But apparently, the quest for beauty is universal. The Daily NK, a North Korea-specific Internet newspaper recently reported that surgeons are performing cosmetic surgeries in exchange for bribes. The procedures of choice? Face lifts, permanent makeup, and ssangapool (double-eyelid) surgery.
Doctors typically receive only 2,000-3,000 North Korean won (approx, 14-21 U.S. dollars) for the eyelid surgery, while the same procedure might cost several hundred dollars in South Korea.
“Many women want plastic surgeries regardless of deprivation and food shortages,” a source from Pyongyang told the Daily NK. To put things in perspective, 2,000 North Korean won can buy one kilo of rice – a significant amount for the famine-stricken nation.
Also surprising is the shift in fashion – while the communist nation once banned women from wearing jeans and mini skirts, under Kim Jong-eun, heir apparent of Kim Jong-il, restrictions have been relaxed.
Upper-class women in Pyongyang have been sighted in skinny jeans and flashy jewelry, a big departure from the typically drab, uniform-like clothes North Korean women are most often seen wearing.
Perhaps it’s a sign that things are getting better, but we’d be happier if we heard that North Korean women were going on diets to maintain their slender figures – but we doubt it that will happen anytime soon.
