North Korean High-Ranking Officials Embrace Luxury Brands During Kim Jong-un’s Russian Visit
In a recent report, NK News, a specialized North Korean news outlet, revealed that North Korean high-ranking women officials, accompanying Kim Jong-un, Chairman of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, during his visit to Russia, carried luxury brand handbags on September 18th.
Despite North Korea’s crackdown on foreign high-end luxury goods, labeling them as “bourgeois culture” and “anti-socialist behavior,” it is evident that the country’s top officials, including Chairman Kim, continue to display their affection for luxury brands.
NK News reported that a photograph taken on September 16th confirmed that Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui was carrying a rare Gucci handbag made of ostrich leather. This discontinued item is currently trading for $10,000 on an Icelandic second-hand goods website.
The same report cited another instance from Kim Jong-un’s visit to a glass factory in Komsomolsk-na-Amure, a city in Russia’s Khabarovsk Krai, on September 15th. Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Department Director of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was seen carrying a black “Lady Dior” handbag by the French luxury brand Christian Dior. This bag, made of calf leather, is currently retailing for $7,000 on the Christian Dior website.
However, among the entourage, Hyon Song-wol, Deputy Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was seen carrying what appeared to be an inexpensive handbag of Chinese origin. According to NK News, this bag is sold for $8 on a Chinese website.
It is worth noting that UN Security Council Resolution 1718, adopted in response to North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, prohibits the export of luxury goods to North Korea.
Despite international sanctions and restrictions, Kim Jong-un has been repeatedly spotted wearing the luxury Swiss watch brand IWC, and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, along with their daughter Kim Ju-ae, have also been seen with Dior handbags and outerwear.
Additionally, Kim Yo-jong was photographed carrying a Bulgari bag during a meeting with a Chinese delegation in North Korea in July, as reported by NK News.
This revelation of luxury brand accessories among North Korea’s elite has sparked discussions about the stark lifestyle contrast between the country’s top echelons and its general population. A UN report during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated that over ten million North Korean citizens suffered from famine and malnutrition, highlighting the profound disparities in living standards between the North Korean elite and the average citizen.
This conspicuous display of luxury brands by North Korea’s top officials during Kim Jong-un’s Russian visit raises questions about the resilience of such consumerism in a country that officially condemns it.
By. Yonhap News
Most Commented