Enlarge photos of luxury watches and luxury padding worn when observing the launch of Hwaseong-17 in the past
Sharp criticism of the North Korean regime, pointing out that ‘Kim Jong-un is busy enriching himself’
Claiming that a South Korean drone recently infiltrated the skies over Pyongyang three times and distributed leaflets, it was confirmed that the leaflets released by North Korea contained content criticizing the luxury clothing of Chairman Kim Jong-un and Chairman Kim’s daughter Joo-ae.
The North Korean people live in poverty due to the international community’s sanctions against North Korea and the worsening food shortage, while North Korea’s top leadership is said to be wearing luxurious items.
According to government authorities on the 13th, at the top of the anti-North Korea leaflet that North Korea released, saying that a South Korean drone had been sprayed over Pyongyang, it said, ‘Kim Jong-un, who is busy enriching himself.’ At the bottom, there is a photo of Chairman Kim wearing a Swiss-made luxury watch and his daughter Joo-ae wearing padding from Christian Dior, a French luxury brand.
Government authorities believe that this is an enlarged photo of the Swiss-made luxury watch and padding worn by Chairman Kim and his daughter Joo-ae while observing the test launch of the Hwaseong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) several years ago. At the time, the Swiss-made luxury watch worn by Chairman Kim was known to be worth about 15 million won, and Joo-ae’s Dior padding was known to be worth 2.4 million won.
North Korea unusually released leaflets distributed by drones, but blurred out photos of the luxury items worn by Chairman Kim and Joo Ae. This is interpreted as being due to concerns about creating a sense of discomfort among North Korean residents and internal backlash.
In addition, under the title ‘Comparison of food that can be purchased with annual income,’ the content compares the income gap between South Korean and North Korean residents with the gap in purchasing rice and corn, and phrases that harshly criticize the North Korean regime, such as ‘North Korea’s economic situation is falling into hell.’ It was also described in the leaflet.
A government source said, “The intention is to clearly show the duplicitous behavior of Chairman Kim and his family, who on the surface say they are for the North Korean people, but in reality they indulge in extravagant activities that ordinary people cannot even dream of.”
Donga Ilbo exclusive >
![[단독]The drone that infiltrated Pyongyang contained a leaflet criticizing Kim Jong-un’s and his wife’s luxurious decorations.](https://dimg.donga.com/a/180/101/95/2/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/10/13/130203834.1.jpg "[단독]The drone that infiltrated Pyongyang contained a leaflet criticizing Kim Jong-un’s and his wife’s luxurious decorations.")
At Gwanghwamun
Eunah Jo’s Euronomics
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Military reporter Sang-ho Yoon ysh1005@donga.com