North Korea cuts up rough over ‘disrespectful’ poster

Police intervened after North Korean reportedly told a London hairdresser to take down a discount haircuts advert featuring leader Kim Jong-Un.

Mo Nabbach said two officials from the Stalinist state’s mission took pictures of the M&M Hair Academy in Ealing, west London.

They then ordered him to remove the “disrespectful” poster, he said. It featured a large picture of Kim’s distinctive short back and sides hairdo with the slogan: read: “Bad hair day? 15% off all gent cuts through the month of April.”

“I told them this is England and not North Korea and told them to get their lawyers. The two guys were wearing suits and they were very serious. It was very threatening.”

Police confirmed that they had stepped in to resolve the issue. “Officers spoke to both parties involved and no offence was disclosed.”

There was no immediate response from the North Korean embassy, located in a suburban house less than two miles from the salon.

The Kim family has ruled the country for more than six decades with an iron fist.

Kim Jong-Un’s haircut is similar to that of his grandfather Kim Il-Sung, reinforcing efforts by him to project himself more in the image of the state’s founder leader than his father Kim Jong-Il.

Nabbach said: “We put up posters for an offer for men’s hair cuts through the month of April. Obviously in the current news there has been this story that North Korean men are only allowed one haircut.

“We didn’t realise but the North Korean embassy is a 10 minute walk from the salon. The next day we had North Korean officials pop into the salon asking to speak to the manager.

“He said, ‘listen this isn’t North Korea, this is England, we live in a democracy so I’m afraid you’re going to have to get out of my salon’.

“We went to Ealing police station afterwards to file a report just in case anything happened to the salon overnight. Apparently they went to the police as well.”

“We haven’t had any trouble since then, if anything the poster has become a tourist attraction.

“It was just something that had been in the news, and the North Korean officials didn’t even have the haircut.”