North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un; an image showing hot dogs (inset)
Credit: Reuters and iStock Photos
Love eating hot dogs? If yes, then North Korea is certainly the place you must avoid. In a much unwelcome news for hot dog eaters in the East Asian country, consuming, serving, or selling this popular sausage sandwich will, from now on, be considered an act of treason.
Adding to the long list of extreme rules and regulations that have been imposed by North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un during his reign in the country, any person caught selling hot dogs on the streets, or even found cooking them inside their homes, will face deportation to labour camps, according to a report by The Sun.
This bizarre decision of banning hot dogs is the latest of many such regulations imposed by Jong-un in what he perceives as a chokehold on Western influences and lifestyles in the country.
The sell and consumption of canines, however, is still legal and prevalent in North Korea.
In North Korea, hot dogs and processed meat are typically used to make Budae-jjigae - a variation of spicy noodle soup - which became popular in the country after being imported from its neighbour South Korea, a country Jong-un considers to be pro-Western.
Shedding light on the current situation, a vendor from the northern province of Ryanggang in North Korea said, "Sales of budae-jjigae in the market have stopped.. The police and market management have said anyone caught selling it will be shut down."
Not only this - in another controversial decision, Jong-un has recently declared divorce a 'crime', and ordered for the deportation of all divorced couples to labour camps for six months as punishment.
"I went to the Kimjongsuk County People’s Court.. where 12 people received divorce decrees.. Immediately after the verdict, they were transferred to the county labour training camp," revealed a resident of Ryanggang, as per a report in the The Sun.