Tighter dress code rules for women enforced in North Korea

According to Radio Free Asia, some North Korean residents who visited China said “women are banned from wearing pants in public from September this year”.

North Korea had prohibited women from wearing pants in public in 1970 until August 2009, when the government decided that it was okay for women to wear neat trousers. 

The source said that the boom of South Korean pop-culture influenced North Korean women to enjoy wearing skinny jeans, capris and boot-cut trousers. However, North Korean authorities considered this “lewd South Korean culture” and decided to “kick it out of the country”.

Police are scattered all over Pyongyang to capture women in pants, especially young university students, a Pyongyang resident told the radio station.

All working women need to wear skirts on their way to work, but are allowed to change into trousers at work. The dress code does not apply to foreign residents or Chinese migrants, it added. 

Another North Korean resident from Ryanggang Province told RFA that police were “cracking down on women’s clothing and hair styles”.

If a woman is caught riding a motorcycle alone, police can fine her up to US$50, the source added.