Kim Yo-jung, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives to attend a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, Russia, Sept. 13. AP-Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family are growing less hesitant to show off their luxury goods, often worth up to millions of dollars a year, to a population largely suffering from chronic food shortages, Seoul's unification ministry said Thursday.

Exports of luxury goods to North Korea are banned under a 2006 U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution, but the reclusive regime has managed to bring in luxury vehicles and consumer goods, including French designer bags and watches.

"North Korea appears to be introducing luxury goods worth hundreds of millions of Korean won to billions yearly for the Kim Jong-un family," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

He added that the "volume of imported goods shrank during the COVID-19 pandemic due to border controls but has been recovering since the latter half of last year."

The ministry made the assessment based on sources from the South Korean intelligence and North Korean defectors, the official said, citing difficulty in gaining access to exact figures and data on the Kim family.

The ruling family also seems to be "showing off their luxury goods without caring about the eyes of the public."

Photos released by state media often show Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, wearing Swiss luxury watches.

In September, Kim's powerful sister, Yo-jung, was also seen holding a black leather bag, presumably from the French luxury brand Christian Dior, during the leader's visit to Russia.

The North's leader is known to use such luxury goods to keep North Korean officials loyal to him.

"Kim gives luxury cars as gifts to officials who he particularly favors or those who have made special accomplishments in the military field," the official said. "He also hands out Swiss watches like Omega or the latest electronic devices at events commemorating the birthdays of the Kim family or the party congress meeting." (Yonhap)