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N. Korea Doubles Luxury Goods Imports
By wchung | 09 Jun, 2025
Worsening food shortages in the wake of recent floods isn’t keeping North Korea from importing luxury goods for the ruling elite, an unidentified South Korean official told Yonhap News Agency Wednesday.
The North imported $2.4 million worth of Hennessy Cognac, whiskey and Japanese beer, a 94 percent jump over the same period last year, according to data collected from China and South Korea.
It also bought $7.5 million worth of Marlboro, Mild Seven and other premium cigarette brands in the first five months this year, a 117 percent jump over the same period of last year, reported Yonhap.
U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea for its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 ban the North from trading in luxury goods as well as weapons of mass destruction and some types of conventional weapons. But the Kim Jong-il regime has continued to import luxury goods like Rolex and Omega watches. The ruling elite is reported to have even had McDonald’s hamburgers delivered from China via Air Koryo, North Korea’s flagship airline, the official said.
These reports come as N. Korea is faced with the prospect of worsening food shortages after recent heavy rains submerged or washed away tens of thousands of hectares of farmland.
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