SEOUL, South Korea — The 29-year-old generalissimo of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, loves riding his $7-million yacht, NKNews reports.
North Korea’s state-run news agency, KCNA, first gave a glimpse of the boat in May while Kim Jong Un was touring the country. It was pictured in the background of one of the obligatory shots of Kim greeting comrades.
And the bon viveur doesn’t seem to mind that United Nations sanctions bar luxury goods from being sold to North Korea. A ban on yachts and cars was added to the list in February.
James Pearson, the NKNews correspondent in Seoul, writes that the yacht is apparently a 95-foot luxury Princess95MY, a model first put on the market in 2007.
It’s not clear how the Supreme Leader got his hands on it.
A spokesman from the French manufacturer said that since the vessel is an older product, it could have changed hands a few times before ending up in North Korea. The company will look into the matter.
The leader’s deceased father, Kim Jong Il, abhorred traveling and preferred transit on his personal train.
His son isn’t about to sail very far. Most likely he’ll stick to touring North Korea’s coastal towns on his usual, much-covered visits round the country conducting inspections and dispensing field guidance.
But perhaps the decision to get around on a yacht reveals something about Kim Jong Un’s taste for Western-made luxuries.