We may be more than 5,400 miles from North Korea, but we're not light years away if Camden council is anything to go by.
The London borough has been embarrassed by an email emerging which asked staff to call the council's leader Sarah Hayward 'Dear Leader' - the same term used for North Korea's former head Kim Jong Il.
Labour councillor Hayward herself laughed it off, tweeting: "It was nothing to do with me. Am happy to be called Sarah and often say so."
Kim Jong Il, whose birth, according to his official biography, was marked by a new star appearing in the heavens and a double rainbow
The offended email read:
Any correspondence to Councillor Hayward should be addressed to her as “Dear Leader” or “Leader”. Please inform all staff.
According to the Ham & High, the well-intentioned proposal has now been scrapped.
Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Keith Moffitt, a former leader of the council, told the paper: “Someone at the council is probably getting a good talking to. I have always been a great believer in informality and I was always happy to be called Keith.
“But sometimes, especially when you are doing something in writing a little bit of formality can be quite helpful.”
Sarah Hayward, leader of Camden council
Her colleagues laughed off the incident, with one tweeting:
Speaking to The Huffington Post UK Camden Council promised it would get back to confirm if any staff had called Hayward 'dear leader.'