‘Bourgeois’ breast implants: North Korea targets underground cosmetic surgeries

Kim Jong Un wants to stamp out illegal breast augmentation surgeries, which have been deemed "decadent". Photo / Getty Images

North Korean women are being punished for undergoing underground cosmetic surgeries as Kim Jong Un deems breast implants a “bourgeois” indulgence.

The city of Sariwon, which is 75km from the capital Pyongyang, is cracking down on illegal breast augmentations, implementing strike forces to eliminate the “decadent” act.

Communist Party members have been instructed to visually examine the authenticity of local women’s breasts, according to the Telegraph.

Women who are believed to have enhanced their bodies will be subject to a subsequent physical inspection at the local hospital.

The cosmetic procedure is reportedly becoming increasingly popular among North Korean women as the weather turns warmer, creating a boom in underground surgery for enlargements.

Surgeons are illegally carrying out the operations with China-imported silicone.

A source told Daily NK, a South Korean paper, the regime intends to mete out harsh punishments to curb what has been deemed capitalist activity.

“Women or doctors caught will face criminal punishment, including terms in labour training camps, on charges of anti-socialist behaviour.”

The crackdown follows reports that two Sariwon women in their 20s were reprimanded in a public trial last month.

Accused of receiving backroom breast enhancements from an ex-medical student, the women said they wanted to “improve” their bodies, the Daily Mail reports.

But the judge found the pair were “obsessed with vanity and ended up becoming a poisonous weed that was eating away at the socialist system”.

Kim Jong Un has governed North Korea since 2011, when his father died and is the third in his family to assume the role of “Supreme Leader”.

The UN recently released a report alleging the dictator has been executing citizens for watching foreign media, the BBC reports, concluding that “no other population is under such restrictions in today’s world”.

The Government banned hotdogs earlier this year, with those caught consuming the “Western” food at risk of being sent to a labour camp.