Radio Free Asia reported that recently many women in the privileged class in North Korea are increasingly showing off expensive accessories.

 

One source from Radio Free Asia stated that women in the privileged class entered a bathhouse in Pyongyang while wearing gold necklaces and rings. Also, children of high officials were seen showing off registered numbers on their gold necklaces. Especially, if women wear imitation jewelry they can be teased by other women; thus, it has become a trend for women to wear authentic accessories as a means of flaunting their status or wellbeing.

 

High-ranking officials sometimes receive luxury goods from Kim Jong Eun, but they usually receive bribes from workers under them. High officials especially claim traders who go out to foreign countries to buy and bring luxury goods, the source revealed. Many defectors said that the North Korean authorities controlled luxury accessories and goods in the past because it was capitalistic but these days the control by the authorities has been relieved.