SEOUL—In recent weeks, Kim Jong Un has started remodeling his luxury compounds, flaunting spending power created by an economic revival pumping cash into the regime.
At least nine of Kim’s palatial residences have started construction between late May and early June
But the 42-year-old dictator isn’t bragging about the mansion maintenance in state media. Revealing his luxurious lifestyle would shatter the state’s propaganda that Kim suffers alongside his people—nearly half of whom are malnourished.
At least nine of Kim’s palatial residences have started construction between late May and early June, according to recent satellite imagery analysis by NK Pro, a research service specializing in the Kim regime. The North Korean leader, based on satellite-imagery estimates, owns more than a dozen luxury estates across the impoverished nation.
Having spent part of his childhood at a Swiss boarding school, Kim enjoys finer things. He has built new luxury houses and summer retreats for himself in the countryside. One of the villas undergoing roof work is a private beachfront complex on North Korea’s east coast city of Wonsan. That is where his $7 million yacht typically docks during his summer visits.
Roof work is under way at a massive compound in the capital Pyongyang, a lake resort and a family mansion so vast in size it has missile launchpads for weapons tests.
Kim’s recent mansion maintenance highlights how increased cooperation with Russia and China has brought in an influx of financial and material resources for Kim to carry out his pet projects, said Michael Madden, an expert on North Korea’s leadership at the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
“These are places where Kim Jong Un grew up,” Madden said. “He probably maintained the high taste levels.”
Few outside images—or even eyewitness accounts—exist of Kim’s highflying lifestyle. But satellite imagery analysts have identified Kim’s luxury residences populated with superyachts, equestrian tracks and Olympic-size swimming pools.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was aboard Kim’s 95-foot, two-story yacht last summer, according to photos in Russian state media. Former professional basketball star, Dennis Rodman, who met Kim in 2013, has compared riding one of Kim’s yachts to luxury travel to Hawaii or Ibiza, Spain.
Sharing some of that luxury life with certain North Koreans is a regime tactic to maintain power. For instance, Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, gifted top-shelf liquor and luxury watches to keep the ruling elite in line.
Kim Jong Un has adopted a similar approach, spending up to $1.8 billion for perks such as cars, luxury goods and medical services for the regime’s elite, according to a 2024 report by a South Korean think tank affiliated with the country’s defense ministry.
International sanctions block the regime’s purchase of high-end items, from Rolex watches to Mercedes-Maybach sedans. But Kim was spotted wearing a luxury Swiss watch on his visit to Beijing last September. He and his wife have installed German-made saunas inside their residences, South Korea’s spy agency said in 2015.
Kim’s younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, carries around Dior handbags costing more than $7,000. His young daughter, Kim Ju Ae, has also worn a Dior padded jacket to an intercontinental ballistic missile launch. His wife once brought a Gucci handbag to a factory tour.
