Foreign brand-name products, mostly counterfeits, are popular among North Koreans. Chinese and U.S. portals frequently show North Koreans wearing clothes and hats, and carrying bags with famous logos. Even children enjoy wearing brand-name goods.
In a photograph posted on a portal, a woman wore a Prada T-shirt. There is no Kim Il-sung badge on her chest. The woman on her right wears the badge.
A woman, dressed in scarlet hanbok or traditional Korean clothes, also carried a Prada bag. Another woman seated on the rear of a bicycle sported a Louis Vuitton scarf.
An employee at a gas station had a Nike hat on. A boy, who appeared to be a primary school student, wore a Puma T-shirt.
It has not been confirmed whether those products are genuine or not. Most of them are presumed to be fakes as it is impossible for ordinary people to buy such brand-name goods, North Korea watchers said.
Only a few high-class people, who were among those invited to attend the birthday party for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, could afford such expensive goods, they said.
A source familiar with trade between North Korea and China said North Korean officials have purchased a large number of supposed Gucci and Armani goods at a Chinese market for the past three months, according to the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper.