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Police were forced to step in after a London hairdresser claimed he was targeted by officials from the North Korean Embassy when he used a photo of leader Kim Jong-un in his shop window to promote a 15 per cent discount offer.

Mo Nabbach, who runs M&M Hair Academy in South Ealing, thought the poster would help drum up business given Jong-un’s distinctive style, shaved very short at the back and sides and left longer in the middle.

But he claims he found himself the victim of a covert monitoring operation carried out by officials from the embassy, which is located less than two miles away in an inter-war semi in Gunnersbury.

Beneath the image, the large sign, since taken down, read: “Bad hair day? 15% off all gent cuts through the month of April.”

Mr Nabbach, who is also a fashion photographer, told the Standard two men came down and started taking pictures of his window and making notes.

He said they then came back and asked to speak to the manager before ordering him to take the poster down because it was “disrespectful” to their leader.

“I told them this is England and not North Korea and told them to get their lawyers,” he added.

“We did take it down but then some of our clients told me to put it back up because we have a democracy here.

“The two guys were wearing suits and they were very serious. It was very threatening.”

Both Mr Nabbach and the embassy contacted the police over the row.

A Met Police spokeswoman said: “We have spoken to all parties involved and no offence has been disclosed.”

Male university students in North Korea are reportedly now required to get the same haircut as their leader, who took charge after his father’s death in December 2011.

The state-sanctioned guideline was introduced in the capital Pyongyang last month, according to reports by Radio Free Asia, and is now allegedly being rolled out across the country.

One source told the station: “Our leader’s haircut is very particular, if you will. It doesn’t always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes.”

But there have been claims that the leader’s hair style is unpopular in his home country because it is a look traditionally assoicated with Chinese smugglers.

It is understood haircuts have been state-approved in North Korea for some time - until now people were reportedly only allowed to choose from 18 styles for women and 10 for men.

North Korea’s state TV also previously launched a campaign against long hair, called: “Let us trim our hair in accordance with the Socialist lifestyle”.

Late leader Kim Jong-il, who ruled the notoriously secret country for 17 years, sported a bouffant hairstyle, allegedly in order to look taller.

A North Korean embassy spokesman refused to confirm whether officials had visited the shop or whether it had been monitored.

He added: “We are not in a position to comment.”