A superyacht longer than a basketball court, complete with a swimming pool that stretches half its length, appears to be a vacation destination for North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un. A BBC analysis of satellite images shows an 260-foot luxury vessel shuttling between a shipyard and the waters off North Korea’s Kalma Peninsula, near the Wonsan villa where Kim and his family stay, from July into mid-October. Three other large boats, plus smaller support craft, repeatedly surfaced in the same area.
Defectors and experts say vessels of that size are effectively off-limits to anyone outside the ruling class. The imagery suggests seaside leisure for those at the top in a country where roughly 40% of people are undernourished, travel is tightly controlled, and many workers struggle to use the vacation days they’re entitled to on paper. The yacht has multiple waterslides, too.