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How North Korea's privileged elite prosper while ordinary people starve

The Hermit Kingdom's haves and have-nots
The elite get to live in Pyongyang
The rest of the population are barred from the capital
The elite can earn thousands of dollars a month
While the rest of the population scrape by on just $2 or $3 (£1.45 or £2.15)
Ordinary people are forced into unpaid labour
The elite have constant access to fine food
A leader's diet
The rest of the population have barely enough to eat
The elite worry about their waistlines
The rest of the population fret about famine
The elite reside in upscale apartment blocks
Kim has 17 palaces to choose from...
...and a superyacht for holidays
The rest of the population live in rundown, no-frills housing
The elite enjoy swish en suite facilities
The rest of the population have to use public bathrooms
The elite has access to desirable black market goods
The rest of the population have no such luck
The elite follow the latest fashions
The rest of the population have more important things to worry about
The elite drive cars and ride battery-powered bikes
The rest of the population use bikes and ox or horse-drawn carts
The elite drive on smooth asphalt roads
The rest of the population struggle on dirt tracks
The elite don't have to cope with crippling power cuts
The rest of the population experience regular outages
The elite own multiple cellphones
The rest of the population are banned from owning cellphones
The elite have (restricted) access to the internet
The elite pamper their pet dogs
The rest of the population are more likely to eat the animals
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David Guttenfelder/PA

The rest of the population have no such luck

Consumerism is almost non-existent away from the capital. With very little disposable income, most North Koreans spend any extra cash they earn on food for their families. Even if they did have the money to spend, there are very few black market stores outside Pyongyang in which to splash the cash.
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lovemoney staff

19 August 2022

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