Kim Jong‑un linked to 80‑metre yacht with 50‑metre pool near Wonsan

Satellite imagery collected between July and mid‑October this year shows an 80‑metre luxury vessel moored repeatedly off the coast near Wonsan, North Korea, notable for a 50‑metre swimming pool running along its deck and a cluster of water slides at one end. Analysts say the ship was moved out of a maintenance facility in early July and positioned close to the Kalma peninsula.

Vessel movements, nearby villas and who uses them

Images also show several other large boats operating close to the beachfront villas in the Wonsan area, a seaside resort complex long associated with the country’s leadership. Observers believe these vessels are used by Kim Jong‑un and members of his family; defectors and former officials say it would be very difficult for anyone outside the ruling circle to own or freely use such large craft.

Ri Jong Ho, who previously served in Office 39 of the Workers’ Party — the body long thought to handle foreign currency and assets for the leadership — described the pattern of seasonal use: "In winter they kept them at the shipyard. When summer came, they would take them out and move them to Kim Jong‑un’s villa or to Kalma, where they used them for swimming and recreation."

Estimating the private wealth at the very top of the secretive regime is notoriously hard. UN agencies and other international bodies place North Korea among the world’s poorest states, even as the government devotes a large share of resources to its military and sanctioned nuclear programmes. A UN report published in 2025 concluded that most North Koreans live under "systematic, widespread and severe human rights violations", with mass forced labour and chronic food shortages; roughly 40% of the population is assessed as undernourished.

Still, lavish lifestyles among the elite have long been documented. The market price for comparable luxury yachts can range from tens of millions to more than $100 million. The leader’s smaller Princess‑model yacht, at 29 metres in length, was previously estimated at about $7 million.

While the precise locations of the vessels do not prove where family members are at any given moment, their movements have coincided with stretches when Kim has been absent from public events. Biographers and intelligence assessments link Wonsan to his childhood and to property used by his father, Kim Jong‑il; one defector who spent 13 years as a guard at residences used by Kim Jong‑il recalled villas around Wonsan serving as an elite seaside retreat where children and teenagers water‑skied in summer. State media rarely describe such trips as private holidays, instead portraying visits as inspections or official business. Local facilities in Wonsan are said to include hotels, restaurants and water parks with combined capacity for nearly 20,000 visitors.

Photo: Bi-Bi-Si)