North Korea’s cabinet daily urged young people this week to reject “reactionary” cultural schemes and dress and groom “in our own way,” policing fashion in line with an ongoing crackdown on foreign influence that aims to boost loyalty to the country’s socialist system.

But state media attempted to show that youth who violate the official ideology can still work themselves back into the regime’s good graces, spotlighting the story of a delinquent man who achieved redemption through hard labor, a day before announcing plans for an amnesty around the upcoming ruling party anniversary.[/p