Ri Sol-Ju, the glamorous new wife of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, has angered locals by carrying a Christian Dior bag worth more than a thousand dollars to a meeting with the Korean People’s Army.
While the act wouldn’t rate a mention in the affluent United States, it’s a real faux pas for a woman leading an impoverished country.
It’s estimated that Ri Sol-Ju’s quilted black lambskin clutch would cost around 1.8 million Korean won, or the equivalent of $1,595US. To put that into perspective, the sum is the equivalent of what most North Koreans make in an entire year. The country has also suffered severe food shortages since the mid-1990s. Just think how many mouths could be fed if the lavish bag were offloaded!
To be fair, no one has confirmed whether the bag’s a genuine Christian Dior original or just an impressive lookalike. However I can’t imagine someone so wealthy would stoop to indulging in a knock-off, can you? And of course, if it was fake the situation opens another can of worms!
Of course Kim Jong-un and his wife don’t have to play the game and encourage North Koreans citizens to like them. They’ll stay in power regardless, whether it pleases the people or not. However it couldn’t hurt for the First Lady to earn a bit of good will, could it?
[Image Source: Wikipedia Commons]
