Water slides and swimming pools on yachts: Satellite images reveal life in Kim Jong-un's "summer palace"

An 80-meter-long luxury yacht appeared several times in satellite images off Wonsan, North Korea (North Korea) from July to mid-October this year. The most eye-catching thing is the 50-meter-long swimming pool on the deck and a set of water slides at one end of the pool.

The yacht had been parked at a maintenance facility for several months before moving to an area on the east coast called the Kalama Peninsula in early July.

The site is near Wonsan, a seaside resort city and home to a large villa used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family.

The megayacht isn't the only one moving. Satellite images analyzed by the BBC show that several other large ships have also repeatedly appeared in the waters near Kim Jong-un's villa.

The ships are widely believed to be used by Kim Jong Un and his family. Former North Korean officials, defectors and experts say it would be nearly impossible for someone with no ties to the regime's leadership to own or freely use a vessel of this size.

"In the winter, they will park these boats at the shipyard. In the summer, they will take them out and dock them near Kim Jong-un's villa or sail to the Kalama area for swimming and recreation," said Ri Jong Ho.

Ri Jung Ho once served in Room 39 (39호실) of the Workers’ Party of Korea. It is widely believed that the agency is responsible for raising and managing foreign exchange funds for the North Korean leadership.

The fortunes of top figures in North Korea's secretive dictatorship are as elusive as the country's economic data.

The United Nations and other agencies, relying largely on estimates, rank North Korea as one of the world's poorest countries. The country also maintains a large military budget to support its nuclear program, which is subject to international sanctions.

According to a 2025 United Nations report, most North Korean people live under "systemic, widespread and severe human rights violations," with the state fully controlling society, forced labor widespread, and chronic food shortages leading to an estimated 40% of the population being malnourished.

However, the outside world has always known that the top leaders of the North Korean regime live a luxurious life.

We have no way of knowing how much the boats seen in the satellite images are worth, but similar luxury yachts typically cost between tens of millions of dollars to more than $100 million (669 million yuan; NT$3.245 billion). Kim Jong-un's smaller yacht, the 29-meter Princess, was previously estimated to be worth about $7 million.

While the location of the ships alone cannot definitively prove where the Kim family is, the movement of the ships overlapped with periods of lull in Kim Jong-un's public appearances, revealing some activities that would otherwise have been hidden from public view.

Wonsan is where Kim Jong Un lived and spent part of his childhood with his mother, according to biographers and intelligence reports. And one expert told the BBC that the city has had close ties with the Kim family since their father, Kim Jong Il, came to power.

A North Korean defector told the BBC that he served for 13 years in the "974 Unit" responsible for guarding Kim Jong Il's residence from the 1990s to the early 2000s. He said the villas around Wonsan have always been a vacation spot for North Korea's elite.

He recalled seeing dozens of children and teenagers water skiing there during the summer.

North Korean state media rarely report on Kim's vacations, usually describing such trips as official inspections or guidance. However, North Korean defectors interviewed by the BBC in the past seemed to know that the Kim family would be vacationing in Wonsan, indicating that at least some North Korean people are aware of this.

North Korea's official media also claimed that Wonsan has high-rise hotels, restaurants, shops, sports facilities and water parks that can accommodate nearly 20,000 tourists.

North Korean state media and Russian media have released photos showing a small Russian tour group visiting Wonsan Kalma Resort. The resort opens in July 2025. Although it was developed to attract foreign tourists, it is also open to local tourists.

According to South Korean media, citing an unnamed source, some local residents were offered four-night accommodation packages for about US$100. For most North Koreans, this is a considerable expense.

According to United Nations data, North Korea's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 will be approximately $667, while South Korea's (South Korea) will be $36,227.

Therefore, for most North Koreans, vacation is out of reach. Although a growing middle class has indeed emerged locally, they may not have much free time to enjoy leisure life.

North Korean defectors interviewed by the BBC said that workers, office staff and farmers on cooperative farms are entitled to 14 days of annual leave by law, but this provision is rarely actually implemented.

It’s not common to take multiple days off in a row to travel. People usually use short trips on weekends or travel during national holidays instead of planning a so-called "summer vacation".

Even if leave is granted, travel itself is restricted. People who want to leave their city or county must obtain official approval in advance.

In North Korea, free movement is sometimes as much of a luxury as vacation itself.

The BBC is tracking the movements of four large ships in the Wonsan area, with hull lengths of about 50 meters, 55 meters, 60 meters and 80 meters respectively. All four ships have appeared in the waters near Kim Jong-un's villa in Wonsan many times this year.

The largest ship showed the most activity. After sailing out of the pier, it moved to the waters off the Kalama Peninsula and has been anchored in this area since July.

Two other ships, 50 meters and 55 meters long, also appeared in the waters near Wonsan (Tae Island) and Sin Island (Tae Island) many times until the end of August.

Satellite images also showed that four other smaller vessels were moored next to the 50-meter-long ship.

Satellite image analysis expert Jeong Seong-hak said these smaller ships are responsible for transporting personnel, fuel and supplies to larger ships. Small islands such as Tae Island and Sin Island provide "secluded seaside retreats that maintain privacy away from public view," he added.

As for the 60-meter-long ship, until last week, it still appeared in the waters near Kim Jong-un's villa in Wonsan many times.

Although North Korea has never publicly disclosed the official owners of these ships, the BBC analyzed historical satellite images and found that as early as 2002, when Kim Jong Il was in power in North Korea, a large ship with the same unique characteristics appeared in Wonsan.

Former American NBA star Dennis Rodman (Dennis Loving) visited North Korea in 2013. He told the British newspaper "The Sun" that during the seven-day visit, he spent most of the time with Kim Jong-un in the Wonsan area, including riding a jet ski and riding horses together.

"Kim Jong-un is supposed to be the 'leader of the people,' yet he owns four of these luxury ships while ordinary people still struggle to have one meal a day," Ri Jung-ho said.

Cartography: Arvin Supriyadi