South Korea’s government has reportedly come under fire for suggesting a cap on K-pop stars appearing on television shows as the singers look uniformly beautiful.

According to the Korea Times, guidelines issued by the ministry of gender equality and family sparked controversy at the weekend for recommending restrictions on how many singers could be allowed on set at any given time.

"Are the singers on TV music shows twins? They seriously look identical. Most are idol group members," the guidelines apparently say. "Most of them are skinny and have similar hairstyles and makeup with outfits exposing their bodies."

The ministry said on Monday that the guidelines, which are not mandatory, only aim at raising awareness on the negative effects of “lookism” and the promotion of a narrow perception of beauty on public health.

But their efforts were not universally well-received. Ha Tae-keung, a member of the opposition Bareunmirae party argued that beauty was a matter of individual taste and should not be subject to government regulation.

"The gender ministry says K-pop idols should not star together on television because they are all skinny and pretty with pale skin. What's the difference between this and the crackdowns on the length of hair and skirts during the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan?" he said, referring to the late army general who ruled South Korea in the 1980s.