North Korea’s most luxurious palace for visiting foreign leaders has seen major upgrades in recent months, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, possibly in relation to plans to receive another special guest.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin used the Kumsusan Guesthouse in east Pyongyang most recently in June, after it was built rapidly just ahead of a visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping five years earlier. 

Planet Labs satellite imagery reveals the addition of new annexes to the main residence between Putin’s June visit and mid-August. Work to build new facilities on the shore of the small pond in the middle of the complex also wrapped up by October.

A new round of work to upgrade the residence and expand the other main building featuring more traditional Korean architecture has taken place from late September to this week as well.

The complex’s rapid construction in the lead up to June 2019 was an early sign of secretive plans for Xi’s visit, and work to build new parking lots foretold Putin’s trip a week in advance.

However, there are currently no known plans for a foreign leader to visit Pyongyang, nor widely circulating rumors as there were by the time preparations for Putin’s visit began this past June.

There has been speculation that Kim Jong Un will hold a summit with Xi Jinping for the first time since relaxing COVID-19 border restrictions, but protocol suggests it’s Kim’s turn to travel to China since their last meeting was the Pyongyang summit in June 2019.

And while North Korea-China trade links appear to remain strong, political ties appear to have suffered this year amid growing DPRK-Russia military cooperation.

One other possibility is a summit in Pyongyang between Kim and Vietnam Communist Party leader To Lam. Kim held a summit in Hanoi in 2019 with former leader Nguyen Phu Trong, while the two countries have rekindled relations post-pandemic, conducting a series of diplomatic exchanges in recent months.

A Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security delegation visited Pyongyang in July, followed by a delegation from Vietnam’s military in September, where Hanoi demonstrated it’s unafraid of international criticism by even inspecting a DPRK special forces base. Vietnamese foreign ministry officials also visited Pyongyang for talks in late October.

A DPRK-Vietnam summit in Pyongyang would benefit North Korea — as another sign of its growing status on the world stage — as well as Vietnam’s strategy of maintaining close ties with a range of countries, including the DPRK and the U.S. 

The Kumsusan Guesthouse has been used not only by world leaders but also high-level visitors, most recently by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in September.

Another possible explanation for the Kumsusan Guesthouse upgrades is that Kim Jong Un plans to use the venue more himself in line with his tendency to spend vast state resources on personal luxuries. 

The upgrades could also be a sign of plans to use the venue for more events for members of the ruling elite, after Kim used the mansion complex to entertain top propaganda musicians and shoot music videos in 2021.

Edited by Alannah Hill