North Korea is rapidly building three large mansions inside the Kumsusan State Guesthouse complex in Pyongyang, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, possibly in preparation to host foreign leaders in the coming months.

Satellite imagery shows that the three mansions each cover around 140,000 square feet, roughly the same size as the two existing ones at the site that North Korea built for Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2019.

That construction was completed within a four-month span between February and June 2019, with half that time spent on exteriors and the remainder likely on furnishing interiors. This suggested the plans came together quickly — and specifically to impress Xi — as soon as the two countries confirmed the summit schedule.

NK Pro was first to report on the latest construction starting in late October, following the establishment of a large worker camp in an adjacent field. Planet Labs satellite imagery taken over the last two months shows foundations were dug for the three new mansions by mid-November.

A Maxar high-resolution image taken on Dec. 2 shows multiple floors built for each of the three new mansions and related support buildings, indicating North Korean authorities are pushing the current project as a top priority, possibly for completion in the next couple of months. 

North Korea has not publicly announced any upcoming visits by foreign leaders to meet DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. 

Top candidates for potential upcoming summits include Russian leader Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi, though U.S. President Donald Trump also offered in October to travel to the DPRK — around the time construction on the new mansions started — to discuss sanctions relief. Kim has so far publicly ignored the offer.

While Putin is a likely candidate to stay at one of the new mansions given the two countries’ growing relationship over the war against Ukraine, diplomatic protocol suggests their next summit should take place in Moscow, since their last one was at the Kumsusan State Guesthouse in June 2024. 

The two met most recently on the sidelines of a military parade on neutral ground in Beijing last September.

Xi could also visit Pyongyang again after his meeting with Kim in Beijing in September. Protocol calls for their next summit to be in North Korea, but it’s unclear why Kim would seek to build yet another new mansion for Xi instead of using the existing one built for him in 2019.

Additionally, the new mansions may simply be for Kim’s personal use and not tied to any specific summit plans.

Following Xi’s stay at the guesthouse in 2019, Kim used the facilities to host domestic musicians during the pandemic and also allowed them extended access to shoot a music video there. 

Top Russian officials Sergei Shoigu, Andrei Belousov and Dmitri Medvedev then used the guesthouse in September and Nov. 2024, and Oct. 2025, respectively. DPRK state media does not always reveal information about the lodgings of high-level foreign officials, meaning the guestlist for the Kumsusan facilities is likely longer. 

Meanwhile, the mansion construction has taken place alongside work on a new cemetery and museum nearby for DPRK soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine.

Edited by David Choi