A South Korean lawmaker said the value of luxury goods imports to North Korea has soared, exceeding $50 million in the first eight months of 2024 alone.
Yoon Sang-hyun of the Korean People’s Power Party said, “Despite severe economic hardship and flood damage, Kim Jong-un has imported $51.92 million worth of luxury goods, including cosmetics, watches, and alcoholic beverages, to pursue his gift politics. “I did,” he said in a statement. According to business news media “Good Morning Economy” on Tuesday.
Yun stressed that North Korea’s imports of certain luxury goods have “steadily increased” since the strict lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic was lifted. He noted that China plays an important role in facilitating such transportation. Such transportation is central to the Kim regime’s patronage system that rewards supporters and senior officials.
Supplying these products to poor countries is prohibited by United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on the country’s missile and nuclear weapons programs.
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Yun, who is a member of the South Korean National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, cited an analysis of data from Chinese customs authorities from January to August that showed that watch exports to North Korea are a common example of “gift politics.” He said that it shows a significant increase in From Good Morning Economy.
The total value of watches shipped from China was approximately $15.3 million, an increase of nearly 64% year over year.
Meanwhile, imports of cosmetics soared 25 times to $13.9 million.
Alcohol exports to North Korea have increased even more dramatically, according to a statement posted on Facebook by Yun on Wednesday. These have increased 340 times since 2021, the second year of the pandemic. The country’s borders will remain officially closed until the end of 2022.
Yun said these numbers suggest that Kim is increasingly relying on gifts to conduct court politics. He emphasized China’s role in facilitating the transit of these goods, but said in a statement that it was difficult to analyze the pattern of relations between Beijing and North Korea or to pinpoint North Korea’s smuggling routes. He admitted that it was difficult.
Newsweek reached out to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the North Korean embassy in Beijing for comment via email.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un himself is known for his preference for high-end imported goods.
Yun’s comments came after South Korean media reported in August that the regime had handed over 20 Orlov trotters, Russia’s most famous horse breed. Russia had previously shipped 30 animals to neighboring countries in 2022.
In another symbol of deepening ties between Russia and North Korea, Moscow gifted Kim an Aurus Senat limousine earlier this year. During a visit to the country in September 2023, Kim reportedly praised the Russian model used as President Vladimir Putin’s presidential car.
