The BBC analyzed satellite images of an 80-meter-long yacht, with a pool and water slides, which show that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's vacations follow standards unattainable for most North Korean citizens.
Satellite images obtained by the BBC show Kim Jong Un's yacht — Photo: Vantor/BBC
What stands out most about the vessel is its 50-meter swimming pool along the deck, with a set of water slides at one end.
After spending months moored at a maintenance yard, the yacht moved in early July to a strip of coastline to the east known as the Kalma peninsula.
The site is close to Wonsan, a coastal resort where there is a sprawling beach house used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family.
This is not the only large vessel that has been moving in the region. Several others were also repeatedly seen near Kim's beach house in satellite images analyzed by the BBC.
The yachts are believed to be used by Kim and her family. Former North Korean officials, defectors and experts say it would be difficult for someone without connections to the regime's leadership to own or freely use vessels of this size.
"In winter, the yachts were kept at the shipyard. When summer came, they would take them out and take them to Kim Jong Un's beach house or towards Kalma, to be used for swimming and recreation," explains Ri Jong Ho.
Ri was an employee of Office 39 of the North Korean Workers' Party. This office is believed to be involved in obtaining and managing foreign currency from the country's leaders.
The wealth of people in the highest positions of the secretive North Korean dictatorship is as difficult to determine as the country's economic figures.
The United Nations and other bodies use estimates to classify North Korea as one of the poorest countries in the world, but with a particularly large military budget, which finances a nuclear program subject to sanctions.
Most North Koreans, according to a 2025 UN report, live under "serious, widespread and systematic human rights violations", with total state control, widespread forced labor and chronic food shortages. It is estimated that 40% of the population suffers from malnutrition.
But the North Korean regime has long been known for living in luxury.
The cost of the ships observed in satellite images is unknown. But comparable luxury yachts cost from tens of millions to more than 100 million dollars. And the value of Kim's yacht called Princess, which is much smaller than the one in the images (it is 29 meters long), has already been estimated at around US$7 million.
The location of the vessels alone does not allow us to clearly determine the whereabouts of the Kim family at any given time. But the yachts' movements, which coincide with the leader's absences from public appearances, suggest activities that would otherwise remain out of public view.
Kim Jong Un spent part of his childhood in Wonsan with his mother, according to biographers and intelligence reports. An expert told the BBC that the city has been associated with the family since the government of his father, Kim Jong Il (1941-2011).
A defector who served for 13 years (during the 1990s until the early 2000s) in so-called Unit 974, protecting homes used by then-leader Kim Jong Il, told the BBC that the country's elite used beach houses near Wonsan as retreats. He remembers seeing dozens of children and teenagers water skiing during the summer.
North Korean state media rarely publish reports showing Kim on vacation. These visits are reported as official inspections or orientation trips.
But defectors interviewed in the past by the BBC apparently know that the family vacations in Wonsan, suggesting that at least some North Koreans are aware of it.
North Korean state media also claim that Wonsan is home to large hotels, restaurants, shops, sports facilities and water parks, and can accommodate around 20,000 visitors.
Russian state media and news portals have published images of small groups of Russian tourists visiting the Wonsan Kalma resort, which opened in July 2025. Built to attract visitors from abroad, the resort is also open to local tourists.
A report published in South Korea, citing an unnamed source, claims that local residents were offered four-night tour packages for around US$100, a substantial amount for most North Korean citizens.
The country's GDP per capita in 2024 was about US$667, according to the United Nations. This value is a fraction of South Korea's per capita GDP of US$36,227.
Therefore, for most North Koreans, vacations are out of the question. There is a growing middle class in the country, but they may not have much leisure time.
The defectors told the BBC that workers, office workers and cooperative farmers have a legal right to 14 days of annual leave, which is rarely respected.
Taking consecutive days off to travel is unusual. People typically travel on weekends or national holidays, not during designated "summer vacation" periods.
Even when a license is granted, travel is restricted. People need to have official permission to travel outside their city or region. And free movement is sometimes as big a luxury as the vacation itself.
The BBC followed four large ships near Wonsan, measuring around 50 metres, 55 m, 60 m and 80 m in length. They all appeared repeatedly near Kim's beach house in Wonsan this year.
The larger ship showed the clearest activity, moving from the docks into the waters near the Kalma peninsula, where it has remained since July.
Two other ships, 50 m and 55 m, were repeatedly observed until the end of August, around Tae and Sin islands, near Wonsan.
Satellite images also showed four smaller boats alongside the 50-meter-long vessel.
Satellite imagery expert Jeong Seong-hak stated that the smaller ships were transporting people, fuel and supplies to the larger ship. He highlights that small islands, such as Tae and Sin, offer "secluded maritime retreats, where it is possible to maintain privacy, out of the public eye."
The 60-meter vessel was repeatedly observed near Kim's beach house in Wonsan until last week.
North Korea has never revealed official ownership of the ships to the public. But analysis of historical satellite images by the BBC found a large vessel in Wonsan with the same characteristics in 2002, when Kim Jong Il was the ruler of North Korea.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited North Korea in 2013. He told British newspaper The Sun that he spent much of his seven-day visit with Kim Jong Un near Wonsan, where they went horseback riding and water skiing.
The former basketball player also described a 60-meter vessel they used as a cross between a ferry and a Disney boat. It is not known for certain whether this would be the same 60-meter ship recorded in the satellite images above.
To most North Koreans, the lifestyle of the Kims (and other supporters of the regime) would seem not only extravagant but unimaginable — especially considering that North Korean state propaganda is dedicated to presenting the "supreme leader" as a selfless man who always puts the nation first.
"Kim Jong Un is considered a 'leader of the people'", according to Ri Jong Ho. "But he has four luxury ships like these, while ordinary people struggle to get just one meal a day."
