Kim Jong-un 'nuclear bomb' beauty face masks spark tension between North and South Korea
The “unification moisture nuclear masks” have been pulled from shelves by some shops after critics slammed the manufacturer for using the chubby despot's image.
Kim's 'nuke masks' cost £2.80 (4,000 won) and includes the bizarre slogan: "Should we now go over the border with a whitened face?”
It was advertised with an odd-ball commercial featuring the leader's lookalike.
The products were launched by skincare company 5149 in June and 25,000 units have been sold.
Kwak Hyeon-ju, the company’s chief executive, wanted the masks to represent a “once-in-a-lifetime" meeting between the north and south.
The masks claim to use mineral water from the Paektu Mountains, the sacred volcano on the border of China and North Korea, where Kim and South Korean leader Moon Jae-in met in September.
But they were pulled from shelves after being slammed for portraying Kim in a light-hearted manner, rather than a weapons obsessed tyrant.
He was described as "funny" and "cute" on social media.
Packets show the leader smiling and waving with a round, white mask superimposes over his face.
“The fact that the worst dictator in the world — who violates human rights of its residents — is portrayed as someone who can be part of making world peace shows that South Korean society has lost the ability to filter through and control the situation,” Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-A University, said.
South Korean law makes it illegal for citizens to depict the Hermit Kingdom favorably.
But the law is not enforced often.
The South Korean government has not officially commented about the masks.
North and South Korea have technically been at war since 1953.
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