fected many young people, particularly university students, the source said.
The Chongjin youth league responded by convening a closed-door ideological struggle session with committee chairs from all city organizations and universities. The meeting focused on strengthening rule compliance, collective control, and ideological guidance, while harshly criticizing liberal tendencies among youth.
Offenders faced public criticism during the meeting and were accused of having loose morals. Two students who showed defiance when caught were notified of their expulsion from university.
The expulsions sparked frustration among young people. “Do they really deserve such harsh punishment for a hairstyle when they didn’t say anything politically questionable? It’s suffocating how the government tries to control every detail of our lives,” one person reportedly said.
Many youth argued that expelling students for minor hairstyle variations—not even involving hair dye—would only increase resentment toward the regime.
“Many young people and their parents are saying these crackdowns are driving their disillusionment with society and desire to defect. They believe they could have a better life if they could only escape without being caught,” the source said.
I do believe they could.
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