Many people poke a little fun at North Korea for their strict attitudes and bizarre knockoffs, but it seems that leader Kim Jong-un isn’t getting the joke. North Korea has reportedly banned citizens from making sarcastic comments about its leader or the regime in daily conversations, as reported by The Independent. This isn’t too surprising coming from the autocratic leader, but still … bummer.
The declaration by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was somehow not made on a whim. Instead, the act of trying to censor citizens’ patterns of speech was deliberated in government meetings and will be enforced in a hostile manner. The Independent reports how a source told Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service the totalitarian regime is taking this issue very seriously:
“One state security official personally organised a meeting to alert local residents to potential ‘hostile actions’ by internal rebellious elements. The main point of the lecture was ‘Keep your mouths shut.’”
It appears the country’s main fear is that citizens are pulling a stereotypical hipster move and are only agreeing with the country ironically. Even a sarcastic declaration along the lines of “This is all America’s fault” would now qualify as an act of criticism against the regime. North Korea’s recent missile tests were thought to be a showing of its power to snap people back into fearing the country, but now that they appear to be censoring conversations, who knows how far they will go.
(Via The Independent)