The brilliance and poverty of Kim Jong-un: how to bypass sanctions to spend $ 640 million

It is easy to see that most dictators of the last century surrounded themselves with a halo of silverless. The older generation can still remember stories about Lenin being malnourished in the Spill or Comrade Dzhugashvili's only dress jacket.

Today, when information has become one of the main products consumed by society in unlimited quantities, it is not easy to maintain the image of a poor noble knight. It is especially difficult to do this if you are the last dictator of the planet, and your patrimony is fenced like a stockade with cruel sanctions. "We don't need someone else's, we have everything of our own," is about how the leaders of the DPRK have assessed their country's position in the global economic model for the last 50 years.

And in fact, one of the postulates of the Juche ideology says that you should not expect favors from anyone, and if something cannot be done by the hands of a working person, then it means it is not so necessary.

The people of North Korea religiously observe moderation in everything and, looking at their charismatic leader in a permanent paramilitary suit, choke on rice and rejoice in numerous public holidays.

But in the DPRK itself, few people know that the smiling Kim Jong-un, who sets an example of revolutionary moderation in everything, is one of the wealthiest statesmen in the world. And how could it be otherwise if he owns an entire country with a population of 25.5 million?

The well-being of the Secretary General is indicated by his expenses on luxury class items, which an Arab sheikh would envy. Since the DPRK itself produces only lamp TVs from luxury goods, it is necessary to buy excesses for the party leader abroad.

Of course, not a single check is signed by the hand of the UN, but this is not required to violate the conspiracy — everyone knows perfectly well who in the ideologically seasoned and not too loyal to the bourgeois People's Republic can order Swiss watches, paintings of old Dutch and collectible wines. The main channel for luxury goods is China, which unofficially sympathizes with fellow party members who are under severe siege.

According to Yoon Sang-hyun, in this scenario, the DPRK can easily survive any, even the most terrible sanctions without giving up nuclear weapons. Inexorable statistics show that 17.8% of the total volume of imports to the DPRK from China, which is $ 3.7 billion, are luxury goods.