This is part one of a two-part series examining goings-on around North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s luxury compound in Wonsan. Read part two here.

Updated May 1 at 18:25 KST to include an image of Kim’s main Wonsan villa with Princess yachts on hand on the same day as the July 2019 Hodo villa gathering.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had a new villa complex built at a secluded coastal spot near Wonsan last year, NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery reveals, with one of his leisure boats visiting the site each summer since at least 2017.

The spot at the southern tip of the Hodo peninsula, just across from Wonsan, appears to be a favorite spot of Kim’s and has even seen once-annual visits by the leader’s leisure boats around the same day in July in the past two years, potentially pointing to a significant date or scheduled vacation.

Two of the three visits were to a small barren beach before the new villa was built, while it appeared finished just in time for a July 2019 gathering captured in high-resolution satellite imagery.

An olympic-sized pool boat with winding waterslides used by Kim or associates elsewhere in the Wonsan area in the past two years has also gone in for repairs this month, NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery shows — a possible sign of preparations for the next big gathering and a development to be detailed in part two of this article.

Kim’s leisure boats have not, meanwhile, been spotted in available satellite imagery yet this year at the new Hodo villa, though NK Pro analysis revealed this week they have been out in other spots this month amid the DPRK leader’s absence in recent weeks and reports of his ill health.

Kim’s new villa

Kim Jong Un’s Wonsan villa has been the subject of much scrutiny this month, but has existed for decades and is reportedly the spot where the DPRK leader spent much of his childhood years.

The leisure boat docked in front of the villa on occasion — NK Pro found a strong historical correlation of its presence there and Kim’s public appearances in the Wonsan area — was also used by Kim’s father, and was still being used this year as well as at the time U.S. basketball star Dennis Rodman sipped alcohol on the beach with the DPRK leader in 2013.

But with the advent of daily medium-resolution Planet Labs satellite imagery in recent years, it became apparent that at least four of his leisure boats since 2017 have moved around to not only this villa but also other spots nearby.

These include Tae island just off the Kalma peninsula coast, where a new giant beach resort project was recently delayed again, and, NK Pro can reveal, the southern tip of the Hodo peninsula about 17.5 km northeast of the Wonsan villa.

This is where it appears Kim, after likely visiting the isolated yet undeveloped spot in 2017 and 2018, decided a new exclusive-use villa should be built.

It was built rapidly, but perhaps not even yet completed, by the time a large gathering took place there the following July. 

And while it is not possible to determine definitively if Kim Jong Un was present in the satellite photo below of the July 22, 2019 gathering, it is likely it was indeed the North Korean leader or close family or associates, given typically restricted use of such a new exclusive villa and his luxury leisure boats.

NK Pro analysis of Planet Labs daily imagery of the southern tip of the Hodo peninsula where the villa is now located (timelapse below) reveals construction began with new roads appearing on the hillside in late January 2019.

A construction barge appeared in early April, and work began in early-to-mid-May on the six primary buildings of the new villa, as well as more just to the north and buildings or even a fish farm up on the hill, the imagery shows.

A temporary dock, likely for use by construction workers, then disappeared between July 9 and 12 — just as one of Kim’s leisure boats appeared nearby. 

This was a 55-meter leisure boat that in the past usually only moved between the Wonsan docks and Tae island, but, notably, has since early April this year replaced a 60-meter trapezoid-shaped boat (the one seen during Rodman’s visit) at the Wonsan villa.

Timelapse of the villa’s construction from early 2019 through to a visit in July by Kim Jong Un’s luxury leisure boat and yacht | Images: Planet Labs

Back in July last year, it stayed around the Hodo villa for a few days before joining a 50-meter boat over at Tae island, and then returned again to the villa to host guests at the gathering on July 22.

One significant indicator that Kim likely attended this gathering, however, is the fact that he was reported in state media to have voted in local elections in South Hamgyong province — where Hodo is located — one day before on July 21. His most recent public appearance prior to that was in Pyongyang in a July 9 report.

In addition, Kim was reported to have guided two missile tests from the Hodo peninsula just days later on July 25 and from Wonsan-Kalma on July 31.

In the zoomed image of the new Hodo villa below, it appears there is a main mansion which, due to its size and location enjoying views of both sides of the narrow strip of land, is likely one reserved for Kim Jong Un or any guest of choice.

There also appears to be a group of three smaller villas for guests, a main building along the west-facing beach which likely houses dining or entertainment facilities, and another building closer to the likely Kim villa, potentially for his guards.

Along the beach there is the 55-meter leisure boat and a 20-meter yacht attached — indicating the presence of Kim, his family, and/or top associates — what appear to be recreational items like swimming floats or platforms in the water, and what may be lounge chairs on the beach.

Google Earth captured Kim’s main Wonsan villa on July 22 as well, revealing his 28-meter UK-brand Princess yacht, the subject of scrutiny for sanctions violations in 2013 — out and active that day.

Soon after that day, the new Hodo villa appeared quiet again and this 55-meter boat was back at Tae island in a July 24 image to meet up again with the other boat, where the two appeared in imagery to stay anchored through the end of August, with only some of the days showing any obvious signs they may have been in use. 

Previous years at Hodo

Interestingly — and perhaps indicating July 22 is a special day for Kim — in 2018 the same 55-meter leisure boat appeared at the then-undeveloped Hodo peninsula’s east-side beach in July 20, 21, and 22-dated images (with imagery of a few days before and after being unavailable).

And on that possibly special day, a roughly 30-meter yacht appeared docked to it as well.

Timelapse of the Hodo Peninsula from July-August 2018, a year before the new villa was built but where Kim’s leisure boat still made a visit | Images: Planet Labs

Planet Labs imagery also reveals the likely scene of the boat being towed away from the Wonsan dock on July 19 with another yacht trailing behind, heading in the direction of Hodo.

The 50-meter boat was moved earlier that day or the previous day to its usual spot at Tae island.

In this instance, too, Kim Jong Un was confirmed in state media to be present in the area in the exact same time period, having been reported on July 24 to have inspected a tree nursery in the days prior on the Kalma peninsula, with no other public appearances since a July 17 state media report on visits to sites further north up the coast.

No imagery was available for the July 20-22 period in 2017, but the 55-meter leisure boat was spotted around the new villa location and further to the west around the Hodo coast in each of the sporadically-available images (it appeared to be a cloudy month) from August 7 through September 4 that year.

It also took a detour in that period to join another boat at Tae island on August 22, the imagery shows. A similar detour was made in 2019, going to Hodo, then Tae island in mid-July, and back to Hodo for the seemingly-special occasion. 

Timelapse of the same 55-meter leisure boat in late summer 2017 around the spot of the new Hodo villa | Images: Planet Labs

The beginning of this period in 2017 coincided with a break in Kim appearances in state media — perhaps a chance for R&R — from July 31 until an August 14 visit to the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) in an undisclosed location.

The North Korean leader was then reported on August 23 at the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defense Science in Hamhung up the east coast, but back in Wonsan on August 25 for an island invasion drill taking place in part at Hwangto island off the Kalma coast.

The above instances show that Kim Jong Un was in fact proven to be in the Wonsan area around the same time as his luxury boats were spotted at the Hodo peninsula villa location in the past three summers, suggesting it is highly likely he was present for at least some of the activities there.

But while the 55-meter leisure craft has been the only one visiting Hodo, what about Kim’s mega waterslide boat, and what do its movements tell us about the DPRK leader’s activities? Stay tuned…

Edited by Oliver Hotham