Satellite Images Track 80m Yacht Off Kim's Wonsan Retreat — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- BBC satellite analysis tracked an 80m luxury vessel with a 50m swimming pool and a cluster of water slides off North Korea's Wonsan coast from July to mid-October
- Three additional large vessels measuring approximately 50m, 55m, and 60m were also repeatedly seen near Kim Jong Un's Wonsan villa in 2025
- Ri Jong Ho, a former Workers' Party Office 39 official, said the vessels are stored at shipyards in winter and deployed to Kim's villa in summer for family recreation
- Comparable luxury yachts cost tens of millions to over $100m, while Kim's smaller 29m Princess yacht was previously estimated at ~$7m
- North Korea's per capita GDP stood at ~$667 in 2024 per the UN, against South Korea's $36,227, with a 2025 UN report estimating 40% of the population is undernourished
- North Korean workers are legally entitled to 14 days of annual leave but rarely receive it, and leaving one's own city requires official state permission
- State media frames Kim's leisure visits to Wonsan as "official inspections or guidance" rather than holidays, presenting the leader as selfless
Why it matters: Comparable luxury yachts run over $100m, while North Korea's per capita GDP is ~$667 and 40% of the population is undernourished. BBC-tracked vessel movements overlap with gaps in Kim's public appearances — the leisure activities themselves are erased from state media, leaving ordinary North Koreans a curated image of a 'selfless leader' they cannot freely travel to meet.
Ask SkimNews
