A large-scale construction project is underway at North Korea’s most luxurious state guesthouse for visiting world leaders, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, as Kim Jong Un ramps up high-level foreign diplomacy.

Planet Labs imagery shows a sprawling temporary camp for construction workers appeared next to the Kumsusan State Guesthouse in eastern Pyongyang between Oct. 18 and 20 and grew by Oct. 22.

Large areas of trees and land were cleared in three spots around the guesthouse compound during the same period, suggesting major upgrades to the facilities are planned and that the camp is directly related.

However, construction activity also appeared in a forested area to the north of the compound at the same time. This is near an arboretum where leader Kim Jong Un has called for building a new memorial to soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine, as well as the “Saebyol Street” housing project for soldiers’ families, and the new worker camp could also be related to these projects.

The Kumsusan guesthouse last saw major construction resulting in new buildings in late 2024. No worker camp appeared at the time, suggesting the current project will be larger in scale or that some soldiers staying at the camp will work on Saebyol Street.

The guesthouse was last used by top Russian official Dmitry Medvedev earlier this month when he visited Pyongyang to attend a military parade and hold talks with leader Kim Jong Un.

Top Russian military official Sergei Shoigu also used the guesthouse in Sept. 2024, while Russian leader Vladimir Putin stayed there in June 2024. 

During the pandemic, when no visitors were allowed into the country, Kim Jong Un used the luxurious facilities to host top state musicians and shoot music videos on site. 

North Korea appeared to build the compound rapidly and specifically for Chinese leader Xi Jinping just before he visited in June 2019, using the same patch of land for the workers’ camp at the time as now.

Another workers’ camp appeared in the same spot again from 2023 to 2024 to build the new Central Cadres Training School located on the Taedong River banks to the south of the guesthouse, another sign that the camp built this week is related to large-scale construction plans.

Speculation has risen in recent weeks over the prospects for U.S. President Donald Trump to meet Kim during his trip to South Korea at the end of October, but most accounts point to the Joint Security Area on the inter-Korean border as the most likely meeting place, rather than Pyongyang.

The short timeline also means the new construction on the Kumsusan State Guesthouse is not likely to be related to a Trump visit in the next week, though it’s possible that the work is related to plans to host a visiting world leader in the coming months.

North Korea hosted not just Russia’s Medvedev at ruling party celebrations earlier this month but also Chinese Premier Li Qiang and top officials from Vietnam, Laos and Indonesia, marking a resurgence of high-level diplomacy that Kim could look to continue.

Meanwhile, Kim has also appeared to set up another luxurious summit venue and hotel at the new Wonsan Kalma beach resort on the east coast. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov used it for talks with his DPRK counterpart in July, but the DPRK leader has yet to use it for a summit.

Edited by Bryan Betts

Updated on Oct. 22 at 5:47 p.m. KST with a new satellite image taken Wednesday morning