An 80-meter luxury vessel has been repeatedly spotted off the coast of Wonsan, near the summer villa used by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to a foreign news report.
Britain's BBC reported on the 18th that it reached the conclusion after analyzing satellite images of the Wonsan coast taken between July and mid-October this year. The vessel has a 50-meter swimming pool on its deck, with several water slides installed on one side.
The ship had been moored at a maintenance facility for several months before moving to waters near the Galma Peninsula in Wonsan in early July. The area is close to a coastal resort where Kim's family maintains a large villa compound.
Three other vessels, measuring 50, 55 and 60 meters, were also seen moving several times near Kim's villa.
Citing former North Korean officials, defectors and experts, the BBC said the vessels appear to be effectively reserved for Kim's family. Ri Jong-ho, a defector who handled foreign currency earnings at the Workers' Party's Office 39, which manages funds for the Kim family, said the ships are kept at shipyards in winter and moved to Kim's villa or the Galma area in summer for swimming and leisure.
The specific value of the vessels captured in the satellite images could not be confirmed. Luxury yachts of a similar size are known to cost around $100 million (about 134 billion won).
The BBC noted that, according to a 2025 United Nations report, most North Koreans suffer severe human rights violations under pervasive state control, widespread forced labor and chronic food shortages, with about 40% of the population malnourished, while the North Korean leadership has long been known to enjoy a lavish lifestyle.
Wonsan has been a favored retreat for the Kim family since the rule of Kim's father, Kim Jong-il. North Korean state media tend to present the leader's vacations as on-site guidance or inspection activities rather than disclosing them as leisure, using them for propaganda.
Dennis Rodman, the former National Basketball Association player who visited North Korea in 2013, said in past interviews that he spent much of his seven-day trip in Wonsan with Kim, joining him for jet-skiing and horseback riding. Rodman described the 60-meter vessel they used at the time as a cross between a passenger ferry and an American Disney cruise ship.