- Published
An 80m (263ft) luxury vessel has been repeatedly spotted in satellite images off North Korea's Wonsan coast from July to mid-October this year.
asserted
vessel → publish → October
What stands out is the 50m swimming pool along the deck, with a cluster of waterslides at one end.
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stands → stand → end
After sitting idle for months at a maintenance facility, it relocated in early July to waters off a strip of coastline known as the Kalma Peninsula.
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it → sit → Peninsula
This is close to Wonsan, a seaside resort with a sprawling villa used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family.
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This → sprawl → Un
A handful of others were also repeatedly seen near Kim's villa, in satellite images analysed by the BBC.
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handful → see → BBC
The vessels are widely believed to be used by Kim and his family.
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vessels → believe → Kim
Former North Korean officials, defectors and experts say it would be difficult for anyone unconnected to the regime's leadership to own or freely use vessels of this size.
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anyone → say → size
"In winter, they would keep them at the shipyard.
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they → keep → shipyard
When summer came, they would bring them out and move them to Kim Jong Un's villa or towards Kalma, and use them for swimming and recreation," says Ri Jong Ho.
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Ho → come → swimming
Ri was once an official at the Workers' Party's Office 39, which is believed to be involved in raising and managing foreign currency for the leadership.
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which → believe → leadership
The wealth of those who sit at the top of the secretive North Korean dictatorship is just as hard to pin down as the country's economic figures.
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who → sit → figures
The United Nations and others rely on estimates to classify North Korea as one of the world's poorest countries, with an especially large military budget that funds a sanctioned nuclear programme.
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that → rely → programme
Most North Koreans, according to a 2025 UN report, live under "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" with total state control, widespread forced labour, and chronic food shortages that leave an estimated 40% of the population undernourished.
uncertain
that → accord → population
But the regime has long been known to live in luxury.
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regime → know → luxury
We don't know the cost of the vessels seen in the satellite imagery, but comparable luxury yachts run from tens of millions to over $100m (£75m).
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yachts → know → 100
Kim's much smaller, 29-metre Princess yacht was previously estimated to be worth about $7m.
While vessel locations alone cannot definitively establish the family's whereabouts, their movements - which overlap with gaps in Kim's public appearances - point to activities that would otherwise remain out of public view.
Wonsan is where Kim Jong Un spent part of his childhood with his mother, according to biographers and intelligence reports, and one expert told the BBC the city has been associated with the family since his father Kim Jong Il's rule.
uncertain
city → estimate → rule
A defector who served for 13 years guarding residences used by then leader Kim Jong Il - through the 1990s to the early 2000s - told the BBC the villas around Wonsan were used as a retreat by the elite.
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villas → serve → elite
He recalls seeing dozens of children and teens waterskiing during summer.
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dozens → recall → summer
North Korean state media rarely publishes reports about Kim being on holiday, instead framing such visits as official inspections or guidance.
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Kim → publish → inspections
But defectors interviewed by the BBC appeared to be aware that the family spent holidays in Wonsan, suggesting that at least some North Koreans knew about it.
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Koreans → interview → it
North Korean state media also claims Wonsan is home to high-rise hotels, restaurants, shops, sports facilities and water parks, and can accommodate nearly 20,000 visitors.
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Wonsan → claim → visitors
State media and Russian outlets have published images of small groups of Russian tourists visiting the Wonsan Kalma resort, which opened in July 2025.
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which → publish → July
Although developed to attract foreign visitors, the resort is also open to local tourists.
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resort → develop → tourists
A South Korean news report, citing an unnamed source, says some locals were offered four-night tour packages for around $100, a substantial sum for most North Koreans.
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locals → cite → Koreans
The country's per capita GDP - around $667 in 2024, according to the UN - is a small fraction of South Korea's $36,227.
uncertain
GDP → accord → 36,227
And while a growing middle class does exist, they might not have much time for leisure.
uncertain
they → grow → leisure
Defectors told the BBC that workers, office employees and cooperative farmers are legally entitled to 14 days of annual leave, but this is rarely followed.
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this → tell → leave
Taking consecutive days off to travel is unusual.
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Taking → take → days
People typically take weekend trips or travel during national holidays instead of designated "summer holidays".
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People → take → holidays
Even if leave is granted, travel itself is restricted, with official permission required for people to travel outside their city or county.
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people → grant → city
Moving freely is sometimes as much a luxury as the holiday itself.
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Moving → move → holiday
The BBC tracked four large vessels around Wonsan, measuring approximately 50m, 55m, 60m and 80m. All four vessels repeatedly appeared around Kim's Wonsan villa this year.
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vessels → track → villa
The largest vessel showed the clearest activity, moving from the dock to the waters off the Kalma Peninsula, where it has been since July.
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it → show → July
Two of the other vessels - 50m and 55m - were repeatedly seen until the end of August around Tae and Sin islands, close to Wonsan.
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Two → see → Wonsan
Satellite images also showed four smaller boats alongside the 50m vessel.
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images → show → vessel
Satellite imagery expert Jeong Seong-hak said the smaller boats ferried people, fuel and supplies to the larger vessel, adding that small islands like Tae and Sin offered "secluded maritime retreats where privacy can be maintained away from public view".
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privacy → say → view
The 60m vessel was repeatedly seen near Kim's Wonsan villa until as recently as last week.
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vessel → see → week
Though North Korea has never publicly disclosed the vessels' official ownership, BBC's analysis of historical satellite imagery found a large vessel with the same distinctive characteristics in Wonsan in 2002, when Kim Jong Il ruled North Korea.
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Il → disclose → Korea
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who visited the North in 2013, told The Sun that he had spent much of his seven-day visit with Kim Jong Un around Wonsan, where they went jet-skiing and horse riding.
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they → visit → skiing
He also described a 60m vessel they used as a cross between a ferry and a Disney boat.
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they → describe → ferry
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
