It’s Not Nice to Mock Dear Leader

Seeking an suitable image to promote a special offer, a hairdressers in west London attracted more than just extra customers when it used a large poster of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in its window.

When M&M Hair Academy in south Ealing put up the 1-metre-by-1.2-metre poster featuring Kim's distinctive short back and sides with longer centre parting and the words "Bad hair day?", they received a visit from disgruntled North Korean officials. Unbeknown to the salon's owner, Mo Nabbach, 51, the North Korean embassy is just 10-minute stroll away, inside a modest semi-detached house in Gunnersbury.

"The day after it went up two Asian-looking guys wearing suits turned up. One was taking pictures and the other taking notes," said Nabbach. "I said to my client at the time, 'I think they are North Korean officials.' Then they came in. They asked: 'Who put that picture up?' I said I did. He said the pair told him the poster was disrespectful and must come down. They said: 'That is a country's national leader.' I explained to them we often used pictures of celebrities, Lady Diana, Victoria Beckham.

 

"I told them: 'Listen, this is not North Korea. This is England.' They asked for my name and I told them they would have to get their solicitors for that." Nabbach said he asked them to leave, and later reported the incident to his local police station. The two did not identify themselves as being from the North Korean embassy, he said. But a Metropolitan police spokesman said: "I can confirm that the North Korean embassy have contacted us and that we are in liaison with them. Officers spoke to all parties. No offenses have been disclosed."
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Mo Nabbach manages the M&M Hair Academy in London, England. After the story circulated about Kim Jong-un mandating that male North Korean students wear his haircut, Nabbach posted a sign outside his salon featuring a picture of the North Korean leader. The caption said, “Bad hair day? 15 per cent off all gent cuts through the month of April. Tuesday – Thursday." It was all fun and games until two men claiming to be from the North Korean Embassy visited the salon and ordered the sign removed.

Mr Nabbach's son Karim, 26, said: "We put up a poster offering a discount on men's haircuts.

"Then North Korean officials came in and asked for it to be taken down.

"My father told them: 'This is England and not North Korea' and he told them to get their lawyers."

His father removed the poster, but quickly put it back up after some of his clients urged him to demonstrate that Britain is a democracy.

Mr Nabbach said: "The two men were wearing suits and they were very serious. My father said it was very threatening."

Nabbach reported the incident to the police, who cannot do anything until a law is broken. The North Korean Embassy, which is only a few minutes’ walk from the salon, refused to comment on the incident.