You'd think the officials of a bankrupt, starving country would have better things to do, but in North Korea, they've decided to crack down on long hair.

But to them, there is a link between nutrition and hair length, according to this BBC story.

On the TV program Common Sense, the hosts noted that long hair "consumes a great deal of nutrition" and could thus rob the brain of energy.

Even more importantly, however, tidy attire "is important in repelling the enemies' manoeuvres to infiltrate corrupt capitalist ideas and lifestyle and establishing the socialist lifestyle of the military-first era," a radio show said.

Hair is a "very important issue that shows the people's cultural standards and mental and moral state", argued Minju Choson, a government daily newspaper.

"No matter how good the clothes, if one does not wear tidy shoes, one's personality will be downgraded."

"People who wear other's style of dress and live in other's style will become fools and that nation will come to ruin," said Nodong Sinmun, another newspaper.