NK blows up to $200,000 a year on luxury goods for leader

North Korea spends 100,000 to 200,000 U.S. dollars every year to import pets and their supplies for leader Kim Jong Il and his family, said Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Grand National Party on Thursday.

According to the information the lawmaker recently obtained, the North imports luxury items such as jet skis and racehorses through China and Russia every year for the lavish lifestyle of Kim and his youngest son and heir apparent, Jong Un.

Yoon said, "Pyongyang also imported about 10 American See-Doo jet skis between 2009 and last year for the junior Kim, who enjoys them at his villas in Wonsan and other places," adding "In October last year, the Kim family purchased dozens of Orlov Trotters, a Russian breed of racehorse.

The lawmaker also said that Pyongyang bought 200 bottles of luxury whiskey, including Johnny Walker Blue, from China in 2009 for a banquet hosted by the North Korean dictator.

The North also bought about 600 bottles of wine from French winemaker Maison Michel Picard last year for Kim Jong Il`s banquets. Each bottle is priced at 200 to 250 euros in Europe.

In March 2009, the Italian government blocked the sale of two luxury yachts made by Azimut-Benetti, one of Italy`s leading companies in the sector, to North Korea. For the purchase, North Korea used an Austrian company as an agent and named a Chinese company as the end user of the yachts.

zeitung@donga.com