An 80m (263ft) luxury vessel has been spotted repeatedly in satellite images off North Korea’s Wonsan coast between July and mid-October this year. Its most striking feature is a 50m swimming pool on the deck, with a cluster of waterslides at one end.
After months of inactivity at a maintenance facility, the ship moved in early July to waters off the Kalma Peninsula, a stretch of coastline close to Wonsan. Wonsan is a seaside resort that includes a large villa used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family.
Large vessels linked to the North Korean leadership
The luxury ship was not the only large vessel on the move. Several others were also seen repeatedly near Kim’s villa in the satellite images reviewed for this report.
The vessels are widely believed to be used by Kim and his family. Former North Korean officials, defectors and experts said it would be very difficult for anyone outside the leadership to own or freely operate boats of this size.
Ri Jong Ho, once an official at the Workers’ Party’s Office 39, which is believed to handle foreign currency for the leadership, described the routine. In winter, he said, the boats stayed at the shipyard, and when summer arrived they were brought out and taken either to Kim’s villa or towards Kalma for swimming and recreation.
Wealth at the top of the secretive regime is as difficult to measure as the country’s economic data. The United Nations and others rely on estimates when they describe North Korea as one of the world’s poorest countries, even though it spends heavily on its military and funds a sanctioned nuclear programme.
A 2025 UN report said most North Koreans live under what it called “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations”, with total state control, widespread forced labour and chronic food shortages. The report estimated that around 40% of the population is undernourished.
Even so, the ruling family has long been known for a life of luxury. The cost of the vessels seen in the imagery is unknown, but comparable luxury yachts sell for tens of millions of dollars, and some exceed $100m (£75m). Kim’s own 29m Princess yacht was previously estimated to be worth about $7m.
Vessel locations alone cannot prove where the family is. However, the boats’ movements overlap with gaps in Kim’s public appearances, pointing to activities that would otherwise stay out of public view.
Wonsan’s long association with the Kim family
According to biographers and intelligence reports, Kim spent part of his childhood in Wonsan with his mother. One expert said the city has been linked to the family since the rule of his father, Kim Jong Il.
A defector who spent 13 years guarding residences used by Kim Jong Il, from the 1990s into the early 2000s, said the villas around Wonsan served as a retreat for the elite. He recalled seeing dozens of children and teenagers waterskiing in the summer.
North Korean state media rarely covers the leader taking a holiday. Instead, it typically presents such trips as official inspections or on-the-spot guidance. Even so, the defectors interviewed appeared to know that the family spent holidays in Wonsan, which suggests that at least some North Koreans were aware of it.
State media also says Wonsan has high-rise hotels, restaurants, shops, sports facilities and water parks, and that it can host nearly 20,000 visitors. State media and Russian outlets have published pictures of small groups of Russian tourists at the Wonsan Kalma resort, which opened in July 2025. The resort was built to attract foreign visitors but is also open to local tourists.
A South Korean news report, citing an unnamed source, said some locals were offered four-night tour packages for about $100, a large sum for most North Koreans. According to the UN, the country’s per capita GDP was around $667 in 2024, a small fraction of South Korea’s $36,227.
Holidays remain out of reach for most North Koreans
For the majority of North Koreans, holidays are simply unaffordable. A growing middle class does exist, but its members may have little time for leisure.
Defectors told the that workers, office employees and cooperative farmers are legally entitled to 14 days of annual leave, but that this is rarely honoured. Taking several consecutive days off to travel is unusual, and people usually make weekend trips or travel during national holidays instead of designated summer breaks.
Even when leave is granted, movement is restricted. Travelling outside one’s city or county requires official permission, so being free to move can be as much of a privilege as the holiday itself.
Four large vessels tracked around Wonsan
Analysts tracked four large vessels around Wonsan, measuring roughly 50m, 55m, 60m and 80m. All four repeatedly appeared near Kim’s Wonsan villa this year. The largest showed the most activity, travelling from the dock to waters off the Kalma Peninsula, where it has remained since July.
The 50m and 55m vessels were seen repeatedly until the end of August around Tae and Sin islands, near Wonsan. Four smaller boats were also visible alongside the 50m vessel. That vessel was seen in waters near Tae island on 4 July 2026.
Satellite imagery expert Jeong Seong-hak said the smaller boats appeared to ferry people, fuel and supplies to the larger ship. He added that small islands such as Tae and Sin offered “secluded maritime retreats where privacy can be maintained away from public view”.
The 60m vessel was seen near Kim’s Wonsan villa as recently as last week. North Korea has never publicly disclosed who owns the vessels. However, analysis of historical satellite imagery found a large vessel with the same distinctive features in Wonsan in 2002, when Kim Jong Il ruled the country.
Former NBA player Dennis Rodman, who visited the North in 2013, told a British newspaper that he spent much of a seven-day visit with Kim Jong Un around Wonsan, where the two went jet-skiing and horse riding. Rodman described a 60m vessel they used as a cross between a ferry and a Disney boat, though it is unclear whether it is the same ship seen in the satellite images.
To most North Koreans, the lifestyle of the Kim family and those who back the regime would seem not only extravagant but almost unimaginable. State propaganda portrays the “supreme leader” as a selfless figure who always places the nation first. Ri Jong Ho said Kim was supposed to be a “leader of the people”, yet he had four luxury vessels like these while ordinary people were struggling to get a single meal a day.
