Kim Jong Un, North Korea's Supreme Leader, has imposed a ban on hot dogs in the country, prohibiting the consumption and cooking of the popular street food. According to Japan’s NHK, Kim has banned hotdogs as part of a larger crackdown on Western culture and its influences.

The food item had become an increasingly popular dish in neighboring South Korea, which Kim saw as a symbol of the West that he wanted to eliminate, reports said. He declared that serving sausages in North Korea would be considered an act of treason. Some reports showed that people have been arrested for cooking and selling hotdogs. The dish, which is known as an army base stew, crossed the border into North Korea around 2017, more than 50 years after its creation in the South. Budae-jjigae was created in the 1950s when US soldiers in the region discarded meat and South Koreans used it to create stews.

Those found guilty face severe punishment, including hard labor in the notorious labor camps of North Korea.

This is not the first time that Kim has banned a food item. Earlier, the sale of budae-jjigae, a South Korean-American fusion dish made with a savory broth, kimchi, Korean chili paste, and American Spam, beans, and sausage, have been banned, reports showed.