Kim Jong-Un
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un presides over a meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang March 17, 2014. REUTERS/KCNA Reuters

North Korean men are apparently sporting the same haircut as their leader Kim Jong-un. And that’s not just a coincidence. According to a report, the men are only allowed to have the “Dear Leader Kim Jong-un” haircut from now on.

Radio Free Asia reported that the fashion directive was announced early in March, and was met with a nationwide backlash, though, of course, any protest attempt was in vain.

“Our leader’s haircut is very particular, if you will. It doesn’t always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes,” a source told the paper.

“It started from capital Pyongyang, and now spreading all across the country.”

Another insider compared said that the hairstyle was even shunned before, saying, “Until the mid-2000, we called it the ‘Chinese smuggler haircut.”

NK News, however, said that the report is unlikely true.

Frequent visitors to North Korea told the news site that there were no evidence of men wearing the “Dear Leader Kim Jong-un” haircut.

“I am pretty sure that this is just stupid, everyone had typical haircuts last week,” Andray Abraham, executive director of Singapore-based NGO Choson Exchange, told NK News.

Gareth Johnson, general manager of Young Pioneer Tours, also told the site, “We were in the country last week and saw no one with said haircut.”

This isn’t the first time state-sanctioned hairstyles were reportedly enforced in the reclusive nation. It has been long rumoured that salons around the country only follows hairstyles that were approved by the state.

According to past reports, salons and barbershops in Pyongyang had posters of a selection of hairstyles on their walls, which others thought were the only allowed styles in the country. However, the hairstyles were apparently only offered to give clients ideas of how they wanted their hair cut.