Kim Jong-un's Luxury Yachts Were Captured In Satellite Images
- 18.10.2026, 9:43
This is what luxury looks like for North Korea's ruling elite.
An 80-meter luxury yacht off the North Korean port of Wonsan can be seen in several satellite images taken between July of this year and mid-October. It’s hard not to notice this yacht: it features a 50-meter swimming pool with a water park on its deck, according to the BBC.
The yacht spent several months in dry dock for maintenance and, in early July, moved to the Kalma Peninsula. It is located near Wonsan—a North Korean seaside resort where a complex of villas used by DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and his family is situated.
According to an analysis of satellite images conducted by the BBC, other yachts have also been spotted on multiple occasions near Kim Jong Un’s villa. It is believed that all of them are used by the North Korean leader himself and his relatives.
According to former North Korean officials, defectors, and experts, it is virtually impossible for anyone not connected to the North Korean leadership to own or freely use yachts of this size.
“In the winter, they were kept at the shipyard. In the summer, they were taken out of the docks, after which they headed either to Kim Jong-un’s villa or to the coast of the Kalma Peninsula. There, the yachts were used for going out to sea and recreation,” says Lee Yeon-ho.
Lee previously held a position in “Bureau 39” of the Workers’ Party of Korea—a secret organization believed to manage the North Korean leadership’s foreign currency reserves.
Assessing the wealth of North Korea’s top leadership is just as difficult as obtaining accurate data on the state of the country’s economy.
The UN and many other international organizations, based on various data and their analysis, rank North Korea among the world’s poorest countries. At the same time, it has a massive military budget, which funds Pyongyang’s sanctioned nuclear program.
According to a 2025 UN report, the majority of North Koreans live under conditions of “systematic, widespread, and gross human rights violations.” In fact, the lives of North Korean citizens are under total state control; they face widespread forced labor and chronic food shortages, which, according to the organization’s estimates, cause 40% of the population to suffer from malnutrition.
At the same time, it is known that members of the ruling elite live in luxury.
We do not know the value of the yachts captured in the satellite images; however, the price of similar models ranges from tens of millions to over $100 million. The cost of Kim Jong-un’s more modest 29-meter yacht (a “Princess” model) was previously estimated at approximately $7 million.
The location of the yachts alone does not allow us to state with complete certainty exactly where the North Korean leader’s family is vacationing. However, the yachts’ movements coincide with periods when Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public.
According to biographers of the North Korean leader and intelligence services, it was in Wonsan that Kim Jong-un spent several years of his childhood with his mother. As one expert stated in an interview with the BBC, this city has been linked to the North Korean leader’s family since the reign of Kim Jong-il—the father of the current North Korean leader.
One defector, who for 13 years—from the 1990s to the early 2000s — served in the so-called Unit 974, which was responsible for guarding Kim Jong-il’s residences, told the BBC that members of the North Korean elite vacationed at villas located near the city of Wonsan. According to him, in the summer he often saw dozens of children and teenagers water-skiing there.
North Korean state media very rarely reports that Kim Jong-un is on vacation; such trips are usually presented as working visits. However, defectors who spoke with the BBC were aware that the North Korean leader’s family was vacationing in Wonsan. This suggests that at least some North Koreans are aware of where Kim Jong Un and his family are vacationing.
North Korean state media describe Wonsan as a modern resort with everything needed for a comfortable vacation: large hotels, restaurants, and shops, as well as water parks and sports facilities designed to accommodate 20,000 visitors.
North Korean state media and Russian publications have published photographs showing small groups of Russian tourists at the “Wonsan-Kalma” resort, which opened in July 2025. Although this complex was built primarily to accommodate foreign tourists, it is nonetheless open to North Korean citizens as well.
South Korean media, citing sources, reported that some local residents were offered vacation packages to this complex. According to journalists, a four-night package cost about $100—a significant amount of money for most North Koreans. According to the UN, North Korea’s GDP per capita was approximately $667 in 2024. Thus, for most North Koreans, a vacation at a modern, comfortable resort like “Wonsan-Kalma” remains virtually out of reach.
A middle class is gradually emerging in North Korea, but for now, its members often simply do not have time for vacation.
As defectors told the BBC, workers, office employees, and members of agricultural cooperatives are formally entitled to 14 days of annual leave, but in practice, they do not have that much time off.
Taking a few days off for a trip is still an unusual practice for North Koreans. They usually travel on weekends or on national holidays. The vast majority of North Koreans do not have even a moderately long period of rest that could be called a summer vacation.
Even if an employee is granted vacation time, their freedom of movement is severely restricted: traveling outside their city or region requires official permission. Freedom of movement in North Korea is as much of a luxury as vacation itself.
The BBC has identified four large vessels—approximately 50, 55, 60, and 80 meters long—in the Wonsan area via satellite imagery. All of them have appeared repeatedly this year near Kim Jong-un’s villa, which is located near the port of Wonsan. The largest yacht was the most active this summer.
The other two vessels—50 and 55 meters long—were seen repeatedly this summer near the islands of Tedo and Sindo, which are also located near Wonsan.
Satellite images showed four other small vessels near the 50-meter yacht.
Satellite imagery expert Jeong Seong-hak reported that the small vessels were apparently delivering personnel, fuel, and food to the larger yacht. He added that small islands such as Tedo and Sindo serve as “secluded havens at sea” where one can take a break from the noise and prying eyes.
The 60-meter yacht has been spotted repeatedly near Kim Jong-un’s villa in Wonsan. It was last seen there last week.
Although North Korea has never officially disclosed who owns these yachts, an analysis of archival satellite images conducted by the BBC revealed a similar large vessel in Wonsan. The images, which show a yacht similar to those spotted near Wonsan this summer, date back to 2002, when Kim Jong-il was the leader of North Korea.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited North Korea in 2013, told the British tabloid The Sun that he spent a significant portion of his seven-day visit with Kim Jong-un near Wonsan, where they rode jet skis and horses.
He also spoke about the 60-meter yacht they used during their vacation. According to him, the vessel was something between a ferry and a “Disneyland”-style cruise ship. However, it is not entirely certain that the athlete was referring to the very same yacht that was photographed near Wonsan this summer.
For most North Koreans, the lifestyle of Kim Jong-un’s family—as well as that of other high-ranking regime officials—seems not merely luxurious, but utterly unimaginable. This is especially true given that state propaganda portrays the “Supreme Leader” as a selfless man who always puts the interests of the nation above his own.
“Kim Jong-un is portrayed as the ‘leader of the people,’ yet he owns four such luxurious vessels, while ordinary people work from morning till night just to eat at least once a day,” says Lee Yeon-ho.