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By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea is being vigilant against the influx of any "non-socialist" lifestyle amid the reconciliatory mood on the Korean Peninsula, according to sources familiar with Pyongyang.
The sources said the authorities were especially keeping an eye on "non-socialist" behaviors in public ahead of the country's 70th founding anniversary on Sept. 9.
"Inspection units, including youth groups from the ruling Workers' Party are deployed across the country to warn or detain citizens found wearing condemned fashions or hairstyles," a source said.
"There have been crackdowns on non-socialist behaviors in the past, but because these did not seem to help the situation, they are now strengthening the crackdown.
"With the approach of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the North Korean regime on Sept. 9, the Central Committee has given special instructions to root out non-socialist phenomena, such as fashion choices and hairstyles that do not fit the socialist lifestyle."
The youth groups from the Workers' Party joined the surveillance because non-socialist behavior was most common among the young, the source said.
