Male university students in North Korea are now required to get the same haircut as their leader Kim Jong-un, it is reported.

The state-sanctioned guideline was introduced in the capital Pyongyang about two weeks ago, Radio Free Asia reports. It is now being rolled out across the country - although some people have expressed reservations about getting the look.

"Our leader's haircut is very particular, if you will," one source tells Radio Free Asia. "It doesn't always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes." Meanwhile, a North Korean now living in China says the look is actually unpopular at home because people think it resembles Chinese smugglers. "Until the mid-2000s, we called it the 'Chinese smuggler haircut'," the Korea Times reports.

It seems that haircuts have been state-approved in North Korea for some time - until now people were reportedly only allowed to choose from 18 styles for women and 10 for men. Earlier, North Korea's state TV launched a campaign against long hair, called "Let us trim our hair in accordance with the Socialist lifestyle".

However, there are conflicting reports over the haircut mandate, with the NK News website reporting that recent visitors to Pyongyang did not notice a change in hair styles.

Late leader Kim Jong-il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, sported a bouffant hairstyle, reportedly in order to look taller.

So, more crazy news from North Korea: according to the briefings by the National Intelligence Service, Minister of Defense Hyon Yong-chol had been executed for disrespect and insubordination. Allegedly, he was shot by an anti-aircraft machine gun at a military school near Pyongyang.

Kim Jong-Un treats the upper crust of the country's political elite with remarkable harshness, and there is no need to have access to the top secret papers in order to see that a major purge is going on.

So, it is indeed likely that General Hyon Yong-chol died a violent death. But the details, including the rather exotic method of execution, make one somewhat skeptical - especially if one keeps in mind some recent media reports about North Korea.
Do you remember the Hyon Song-wol affair? In 2013, the world media reported that Kim Jong Un ordered and execution of a famous female singer Hyon Song-wol who, it was claimed, once used to be his mistress. Her alleged claim was involvement with clandestine porn production: allegedly, the videos with Hyon Song-wol acting salaciously were to be sold in China.
It is indeed likely that General Hyon Yong-chol died a violent death. But the details, including the rather exotic method of execution, make one somewhat skeptical...

The story was too good to be missed: a crazy dictator kills his lover who turned porno actress. So, it was reported widely, and still is sometimes mentioned in media as a fact.
There is a problem, though: the charming Hyon Song-wol, proudly spotting the uniform of a North Korean army colonel (she signs for a military band and hence technically is a commissioned officer) appeared on TV in 2014, many months after her supposed public execution, and has been quite prominent ever since.
This was not the only case when people, widely believed to have been executed, turned up alive and well. Actually, the list of such allegedly executed personalities is long enough. For example, in 2013 the world media wrote about the execution of Yi Su-yong. The "executed" diplomat is certainly alive since he is North Korea's current foreign minister.