A London salon that used a photo of Kim Jong-un to advertise a 'bad hair' discount has been visited by North Korean agents who wanted it removed because it was 'disrespectful' to their Supreme Leader.
Mo Nabbach, who runs M&M Hair Academy in South Ealing, hoped his poster would drum up business, but instead it attracted attention from officials from the rogue state's nearby embassy.
The advert used a close-up picture of Kim Jong-un's distinctive haircut, with his close-shaved sides and a longer, floppy, middle-parted crop of dark hair.
Below the picture it said: 'Bad hair day? 15% off all gent cuts through the month of April'.
Mr Nabbach said soon afterwards North Korean officials, whose embassy is two miles away in a converted semi in Gunnersbury, arrived to protest.
Two men in suits took photographs of the west London shop and its poster of their 'Dear Leader'.
They returned later to tell him the poster was 'disrespectful' to their country's 'Supreme Leader' and must be removed.
Mr Nabbach said: 'I noticed them first outside the shop.
'They came in and asked what the poster was doing in the window and demanded for it to be taken down.
'I said it was only a poster and we have pictures of celebrities in the window all the time. They said: "This is no celebrity, it's our dear leader".
'They asked for my name and I refused to give it to them, saying "this is not North Korea, this is England, and you can get out".
'They left and I called the police just in case they ended up smashing the windows.
'We did take it down but then some of our clients told me to put it back up because we have a democracy here'.
Row: The owners of this London salon say their decision to promote an April discount using a picture of Kim Jong-un has led to the manager being put under surveillance by North Korean officials
After the incident he went to his police station 'in case something happened to the salon', and Scotland Yard revealed today the North Koreans did the same.
Anger: This poster led to North Korean officials demanding that the west London salon that produced it should take it down
'I said it was only a poster and we have pictures of celebrities in the window all the time.
'They said: "This is no celebrity, it's our dear leader".'
- Salon owner Mo Nabbach
Mr Nabbach took the poster down after the men left, but he has replaced it after comments on Facebook saying the request to take it down was a 'breach of democracy'.
He said: 'The funny thing is, it's not a bad haircut if he styled it correctly.
'Lots of men are walking around with hair shaved short at the back and the sides, long on the top and big beards - in fact it's quite like my own style, though it's all about the face shape.'
His barber son Karim, 26, designed the post and said: 'We put up posters for an offer for men's hair cuts through the month of April. Obviously in the current news there has been this story that North Korean men are only allowed one haircut.
'We didn't realise but the North Korean embassy is a 10 minute walk from the salon. The next day we had North Korean officials pop into the salon asking to speak to the manager.
'The men were a bit stern and abrupt, it was all a bit weird. The funny thing is, none of them had the Kim Jong-Un hair-cut, they all had normal styles.
'Being over here, they have the freedom to wear their hair any way they like, yet they are trying to tell us what to do.'
Diplomatic incident: Barber Karim Nabbach says his brother Mo was forced to go the police because the rogue state's officials put him under surveillance
Distinctive: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's hair was declared 'bad' by the Ealing salon, which led to intervention from his agents
Customer Helen Bajaj, who has been using the salon for 20 years, was one
of the people who urged Mr Nabbach to keep the poster up.
She said: 'I posted on the Facebook group about freedom of speech and a friend posted about the freedom to have a laugh.
'I think the poster's cool, it's Mo down to a T. I'm so proud of him for keeping it up.'
A North Korean embassy spokesman said they could not comment on the story.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'We have spoken to all parties involved and no offence has been disclosed'.
While M&M Hair Academy consider Kim Jong-un's hair 'bad', the North Korean leader is currently forcing all male students in North Korea to get the same haircut.
Last month his government announced that the only haircut allowed would be the 'Dear Leader' style favoured by Kim Jong-Un.
State headquarters: North Korea's embassy is based inside this semi in Gunnersbury, west London, pictured here with its flag flying
His father Kim Jong-il's hair was given extra volume, apparently to make him look taller.
His son's new hair regulation constitutes a clampdown, as previously men had ten styles to choose from. Women had a menu of 18 haircuts to choose from.
In 2005 North Korean state TV launched a five part series entitled
'Let us trim our hair in accordance with Socialist lifestyle' with the
aim of promoting neat haircuts.
The TV show sent out teams with hidden cameras to catch 'rebels' who were breaking the North Korean strict hairstyle code.
Close by: The salon is in South Ealing - just ten minutes from the North Korean embassy in Gunnersbury
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