A look at Kim Jong Un's luxurious Mar-a-Lago-Style Wonsan resort in North Korea amid 'Is Kim Jong Un still alive' rumours took the internet by storm

Kim Jong Un’s private seaside compound in Wonsan has drawn attention for its luxury, sprawling grounds and distance from everyday life in North Korea. The estate has swimming pools, tennis courts, sports fields, waterslides and access to beaches along the Sea of Japan. For years, the resort has fueled comparisons with Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Florida. But questions about Kim’s whereabouts have also prompted speculation about his health and whether he is still alive. Recent reports from North Korean state media, however, have provided evidence that he remains active in public life. The inputs are taken from The New York Post and NK News.

What makes Kim Jong Un’s Wonsan resort so luxurious?

Kim Jong Un's seaside estate is one of several properties associated with the North Korean leader. According to Michael Madden, an analyst with 38 North, the Wonsan compound is large enough to accommodate several properties the size of Mar-a-Lago. “You could fit six Mar-a-Lagos in Kim’s compound,” Madden told The Post. “It’s an amazingly beautiful place where the beaches are kept combed, there are yachts and dinner boats, everything you’d want in this enormous space.”


The compound in Kangwon province includes swimming pools, tennis courts, soccer fields, waterslides and a sports stadium. Satellite images taken by Western observers have also shown smaller villas used by members of North Korea’s political elite.

Kim can reach the property by helicopter, private jet, underground train or a protected highway. Ordinary North Koreans, meanwhile, have to rely on roads that are far less developed.

The estate also has historical importance for the ruling family. Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, arrived in the area with Soviet troops in 1945, when Japanese rule ended and North Korea was founded.

In her book Becoming Kim Jong Un, former CIA analyst Jung Pak describes the Kim princes as “being tucked away in a cocoon of privilege and indulgence” at Wonsan.

Sean King, an Asian expert at Park Strategies, also pointed to the contrast between the family’s lifestyle and the conditions faced by ordinary citizens.



“The Kim family lives there in tremendous luxury while the Korean people suffer,” King told The Post. “They are like an organized crime family masquerading as a nation state.”

Why does Kim Jong Un spend so much time in Wonsan?

The seaside property offers Kim a private retreat away from Pyongyang, where he faces pressure from political elites, according to David Maxwell, a retired US Army Special Forces colonel and North Korea expert. “He’s under a lot of pressure from the elite in Pyongyang,” Maxwell told The Post. “He’s trying to make changes they may not like — like reducing the narrative of how the Kim family parted the seas and the sun came down because of their godlike powers.”

Kim has also overseen a major resort development near Wonsan, with hopes of turning the area into a major tourist destination. Yet the region has also been used for North Korea’s missile tests, including launches connected to the country’s expanding nuclear weapons programme.

Former basketball player Dennis Rodman offered another glimpse of Kim’s private world after visiting Wonsan in 2013. “You could fit six Mar-a-Lagos in Kim’s compound,” Madden said of the estate, while Rodman described the location as “like Hawaii or Ibiza, but he’s the only one who lives there.”

Rodman has called Kim a close friend. Joseph Terwilliger, a Manhattan-based geneticist who accompanied Rodman on several trips, also described the North Korean leader as welcoming during a 2018 visit.

“Kim hugged all of us,” Terwilliger said. “Dennis held his baby. Kim was very open, very friendly. He’s very Korean, very warm, hospitable. He’s a hugger. He hugs everyone.”

Is Kim Jong Un still alive?

Rumours about Kim’s health and whereabouts have repeatedly circulated, including claims on social media that he had died, fallen into a coma or been taken to Beijing for treatment. Those claims spread on X and Bluesky, but no evidence was provided to support them.

Recent reporting from North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) gave a sign that Kim was still doing public duties. KCNA said Kim was at the National Garment and Footwear Exhibition-2026 in Pyongyang on Monday. He was there, with his wife and daughter.

Kim praised the event for demonstrating “the development of the light industry sector, which is promoting the improvement of the material and cultural welfare of the people and making rapid progress.”

He also highlighted factories built in recent years under his “20×10” regional development project, which aims to improve living conditions in rural areas.

Separately, NK News reported that the Supreme Commander emblem had disappeared from North Korean television. The publication suggested the change might be linked to constitutional revisions that removed the term “Supreme Commander” in favour of “commander-in-chief.”