A luxury North Korean hotel appears to have been upgraded with a new feature: a missile launch zone.

NK Pro analysis reveals that cruise missiles the DPRK tested last month appear to have been launched from a beach in front of the east coast Majon Hotel. 

Kim Jong Un also appeared to take advantage of the pristine shoreline in front of his mansion next door to the hotel to shoot a horseback riding scene for a new propaganda documentary released last week, according to analysis of state media photos and satellite imagery.

The activities reaffirm that Kim frequents his mansion nearest the city of Hamhung — which received repairs in early 2021 — and suggest he may have been present for the Jan. 25 cruise missile test.

State media reported on Jan. 28 that Kim inspected a military airfield and munitions factory in Hamhung in the days prior, and that short-range missiles were launched from the same area on Jan. 27. Though Kim Jong Un appeared to be in the area at the time, state media credited defense officials with guiding both missile tests. 

LUXURY LAUNCH

The South Korean military announced on Jan. 25 that North Korea fired two cruise missiles from an unspecified location earlier that morning. DPRK state media reported on the launch and released photos days later, but did not specify the location.

Now, NK Pro has confirmed the test took place from a beach outside the upscale Majon Hotel, which opened in 2009 and reportedly underwent renovations as recently as 2019, as state media images of the test match existing images of the site. 

It has been called one of the “most luxurious” hotels in North Korea, but it is apparently not as popular as the Majon Resort (마전유원지) or Majon Tourist Resort (마전관광휴양소) just to the north.

NK Pro has also used satellite imagery and state media photos to identify the target island for the cruise missile test as one located just off the coast of Hongwon county 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) to the northeast. It has been used for target practice before, with historical Google Earth satellite imagery showing large targets drawn on its hilltops.

State media said the cruise missiles flew for around two and a half hours and traveled a distance of 1,118 miles (1,800 km). Their flight path likely resembled those of cruise missiles tested in Sept. 2021 that North Korea claimed flew in “oval and figure-eight patterns” within the country’s territory.

Just meters from the Majon Hotel beach where the January cruise missiles were fired is an entrance gate to Kim Jong Un’s Majon mansion compound, which he inherited from his father and former leader Kim Jong Il. 

The close proximity suggests Kim could have easily gone down to the test site on Jan. 25 or observed the launch from his mansion property.

State media did not mention his presence in their reports on the cruise missile test, but propagandists have been caught hiding Kim Jong Un’s attendance at missile tests in the past.

Another indicator that Kim may have been at the Majon palace was the deployment of an awning or covering on a new beach platform on Jan. 26 but not on Jan. 21 or 27, according to available Planet Labs satellite imagery. There was also increased activity at Kim’s Wonsan mansion down the coast on Jan. 26.

Kim previously watched a missile test conducted on his Majon private beach from the mansion’s Soho Lighthouse lookout on Aug. 10, 2019.

SADDLE UP

Kim Jong Un also appeared to spend time riding horses at the Majon mansion in summer 2021, exclusive NK Pro analysis reveals. 

State TV first showed footage of Kim riding a white horse on a beach at sunrise — a symbol of divine leadership according to official propaganda tropes — in a new documentary film that premiered last week.

NK Pro has found that a structure visible closest to Kim on the horizon in the documentary scene is a new cliffside lighthouse built just north of the Majon Hotel in early 2020. This was likely a replacement for the Soho Lighthouse which Kim had destroyed days after he watched the Aug. 2019 missile test from its front door, according to Planet Labs high-resolution imagery.

Another structure visible further away on the horizon is a roughly eight-floor building inside another of Kim’s mansion compounds up the coast near the town of Rakwon, known as his Soho mansion or No. 72 residence. NK Pro previously reported on extensive upgrades to this palace compound between Oct. 2020 and March 2021.

A comparison of the sun’s position in the horseriding scene and a matching view of the location using Google Earth’s date and time tool, which displays geospatially accurate sunrise positions for any given date, suggests the scene was shot sometime between late July and late August. The scene appeared to have been shot after Kim lost a significant amount of weight in May 2021. 

The fact that Kim chose to shoot a scene for the propaganda film at this mansion suggests that he still considers it one of his favorite of many luxury compounds around the country. His confirmed presence at the Majon mansion for the Aug. 2019 missile test was another example of its importance, as he was seen inspecting the missile launch vehicle from his driveway with his mansion visible in the background. 

Planet Labs satellite imagery also shows that the mansion’s roofing was completely redone between May and June 2021, and industrial buildings inside the compound walls were rebuilt and expanded.

Meanwhile, the location of another scene in the film showing Kim galloping full speed on a white horse is still unknown but appeared to be at one of his luxurious residences where horse tracks were built in 2019. The Majon mansion does not yet feature such a track.

Edited by Arius Derr