North Korean state TV has aired new footage of a lavish banquet held Sunday for top navy brass at a luxurious Pyongyang resort, showing leader Kim Jong Un enjoying privileged access to delicacies like Spanish ham with his wife and daughter, while dining among scale models of nuclear missiles and being serenaded by sailors.

The coverage is the latest example of Kim flaunting his lavish lifestyle even as state media reports on his concern over chronic “food problems” in the largely impoverished nation. 

The move raises questions over his intentions and possible blowback, though the Kim family’s history of publicly living large suggests there is unlikely to be an upheaval over the matter.

A MOVEABLE FEAST

NK Pro analysis shows that Sunday’s banquet celebrating Navy Day took place at the upscale Air Koryo Kobangsan Hotel located along the Taedong River in east Pyongyang, based on a comparison of satellite imagery with state TV footage of the nighttime banquet. 

State media did not disclose the location, but showed scenes of Kim and his family being welcomed by top political and military officials outside a luxurious garage at the hotel, where their Mercedes limousine was parked. The main event took place in a large tent on the resort’s northeast lawn, NK Pro analysis shows. 

It followed Kim and his daughter’s visit to navy command headquarters in northern Pyongyang earlier in the day, where the DPRK leader vowed to deploy nuclear weapons to naval units.

The tent was lit with chandeliers and string lights. Bright neon lights strobed behind the royal family’s table, in a display of Kim’s familiar kitsch aesthetic.

A giant scale model of the Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) mid-launch was the tent’s centerpiece, while smaller models of other nuclear weapons systems were displayed at buffet tables on either side. Such weapons models have often appeared at the leader’s banquets over the years.

At one point in the broadcast, KCTV attempted to blur out the presence of a large leg of Spanish-style ham, possibly to obscure a foreign brand name, or to hide its presence entirely as a rare and luxurious food item amid nationwide food shortages.

As for the drinks, Kim showed off his special status by only allowing what appear to be electronic wine bottle coolers for himself, his wife and daughter. Even his sister Kim Yo Jong did not get one. 

His daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and no older than 12 years old, had the same wine and shot glasses as the adults surrounding her but with different colored liquids, suggesting they were non-alcoholic drinks.

Small blue-capped bottles featuring what appears to be Japanese writing also only appeared in front of the three top Kims in their special swivel chairs. Twitter user NKmu identified the bottle as likely a Japanese “umami salt” called “Ajinomoto Ajishio.” This suggests the Kims look to their arch enemy to the east to give their food flavor. 

The young Kim stared off blankly at times as her dictator dad shed his zipper-style necktie to mingle with his generals, his wife later carrying the tie when they left. But the potential successor also sang along as top navy officials serenaded them with old songs in front of their table.

A TOP-TIER VENUE

NK Pro previously revealed details of the Kobangsan Hotel’s remodeling as national carrier Air Koryo took charge of the resort, including the construction of a new elite horse track and other equestrian facilities.

The resort appears to occasionally host important government events, after North Korea held another tent-based banquet there in May for the new Chinese ambassador. A Chinese Embassy readout called it the Kobangsan Guesthouse (库房山招待所 / 고방산초대소), and published photos of Ambassador Wang Yajun and DPRK foreign minister Choe Son Hui fishing in its pond.

Planet Labs satellite imagery shows that a smaller tent also appeared around the same spot next to the pond between April 24 and 27, possibly in relation to the April 25 army foundation day holiday, while a permanent structure was built there in April 2022 but was demolished by late October 2022.

The tent used for the Kim family’s Navy Day banquet on Sunday appeared to be similar in size and shape to one used for another extravagant banquet Kim and his wife put on to celebrate the Sept. 9 national day holiday last year.

Kim also hosted large-scale outdoor banquets on the front lawn of his party headquarters office building for the Sept. 9 holiday in 2021 and on the sidelines of the April 25 military parade last year. 

Additionally, Kim hosted a banquet at the Yanggakdo Hotel, a typical pre-pandemic foreign tourist hotspot, for the military ahead of its Feb. 8 parade this year, where his wife Ri Sol Ju sported a Hwasong-17 nuclear missile necklace. It marked the first time for his daughter to attend such an event.

And in one of the most recent overt examples of the Kims flaunting their privilege, state TV coverage of the Feb. 8 military parade included footage of the royal family and top officials enjoying a chocolate fondue fountain and cocktails while mingling on couches before the event started.

Kim Jong Un and his daughter have already been shown watching major missile tests from two of their Pyongyang mega-mansion complexes this year, and Kim has launched missiles from numerous other mansions in previous years.

State media has shown glimpses of the Kim family’s network of palaces around the country over the decades, including indoor pools covered by pyramid-shaped glass structures at one of their Pyongyang compounds, while foreign guests of the Kims have also released photos and details of their luxurious lifestyles. 

Edited by Bryan Betts

Updated on Aug. 31 at 12:35 p.m. with new information about a Japanese product Kim used at the banquet.