Photos show luxury boat with 50m pool and water slides near Kim Jong Un's summer retreat

What the report says

BBC World News reports that satellite imagery has repeatedly shown an 80m luxury vessel off North Korea’s Wonsan coast from July into mid-October, near the Kalma Peninsula and Kim Jong Un’s family villa. The boat is described as having a 50m swimming pool on deck and waterslides, and it appears to have moved from a maintenance site to waters near the resort area in early July. BBC analysis also identified three other large vessels in the same area this year, including boats measuring roughly 50m, 55m and 60m.

The report says the ships are widely believed to be used by Kim and his family, based on satellite patterns, historical imagery and comments from defectors and experts familiar with North Korea’s leadership culture. Former officials and analysts quoted by the BBC said such vessels would be difficult for ordinary people to access. One former North Korean official told the BBC that the boats were typically stored in winter and brought out in summer for swimming and recreation near Kim’s villa.

The article places the imagery in the broader context of North Korea’s sharp social divide. It notes that most North Koreans face restrictions on movement, limited holiday opportunities and ongoing hardship, while the country’s leadership is associated with luxury and privacy. The BBC also says Wonsan has long been linked to the Kim family and now includes the Wonsan Kalma resort, which state media has promoted as a tourist destination. The imagery does not prove exactly who was aboard the boats, but it suggests private leisure activity around one of the regime’s best-known retreat areas.