Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, with his wife, Ri Sol-ju, in a photo released Tuesday by the state news agency. The handbag at her side drew the attention of the South Korean media. (Photo : REUTERS / KCNA)

North Korea’s first lady was spotted carrying a Dior handbag, which is worth more than the annual income of most citizens in the impoverished nation.

Ri Sol-Ju, the wife of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, is captured in a photo, beside his husband, watching an art performance by soldiers in a military visit.

Next to the first lady of North Korea is Lady Dior Clutch, a quilted lambskin purse from Christian Dior.

The price tag of the luxurious handbag,1.8 million won (around $1,595), is around 16 times the annual salary of an average North Korea citizen, according to The New York Times.

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The South Korean news media also noticed Ri’s “belly fat,” or potentially, a baby bump. The couple is believed to have a child.

Early July, the mysterious woman who accompanied Kim was revealed as his wife, whose glamorous style wrapped up in designer suits stood out amidst the impoverished nation.

The nation of 24 million people have been going through serious food shortage ever since the famine in the 1990s, killing up to 3 million people.

The floods in June and July destroyed many North Korean farms, only worsening the food supplies in the country that is closed off from the international community.

The death toll from the flood has reached at least 169, with some 400 people missing and 212,200 homeless, according to North Korea’s state media, Reuters reported.

In North Korea, 3 million citizens, which equals to 12.5 per cent of the population, are estimated to be in need of food aid this year, according to the United Nations.

The UN also warned that two-thirds of its population would face critical challenges in starvation.

“There is a very chronic and severe problem in the nutrition of the population and in particular the very monotonous diet which basically is composed of maize and rice, carbohydrates, and lacking… in proteins and fats,” Claudia von Roehl, a representative for U.N. World Food Program, told Reuters.

North Korean leaders have long been under scrutiny for their extravagant lifestyle while their citizens are on the verge of starvation.

Kim Jong Il was known to have a full-time sushi chef, a 100,000-bottle wine cellar, and a taste for Hennessy cognac at a staggering $800,000 a year, according to TIME.