Kim Jong-un’s fears over being assassinated has seen him build eight new luxury mansions in his “Forbidden City” so that his enemies never know where he is sleeping, a new study suggests.
North Korea has upped the quantity of missile testing this year, and amid UN sanctions and continued tension with the United States, the leader has shown signs of paranoia that he could be the target of an attack.
And his fears over being toppled have also included him executing other political figures and members of his own family.
But now a report from North Korea Leadership Watch has published satellite imagery which shows construction work taking place in the VIP zone of central Pyongyang which is known as Kim’s “Forbidden City” where he and the regime’s elite live.
Expert Michael Madden, who runs the Leadership Watch blog believes that the new buildings will be mansions for the leader which would make a “decapitation strike” harder.
“It is highly probable, given the size of the land allocation and the footprint of the construction work, that the project is a large residence or a banquet/entertainment hall,” he said of one building site in his blog.
Mr Madden feels that these new buildings are being used to confuse a foreign state that might be looking to kill him.
He said: 'This would be an attack from outside the country targeting the North Korean leadership, along with command and control over its military assets. The most significant activity occurred about ten years ago when South Korean forces simulated such an attack – and it sent Pyongyang into a tizzy.'
Madden continued: 'This is another round in a decades-long cat-and-mouse game in which the leader of North Korea eludes current satellite views of his whereabouts.
"Sometimes it involves early morning travel, underground facilities or decoy motorcades. If you think he is in one house, well guess again, he might be in another."
The tactic is right out of the book of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who is famed for sleeping in a different location every night to avoid being assassinated.
There are other alternatives, though, and the new mansions could be for other family members or favoured members of his regime.
Madden said that Kim Jong-un has about 13 residential compounds throughout North Korea with residences for him and his family, and entertainment and dining facilities.
He added about the compounds: "There are a series of guest houses which are inhabited by other family members and close aides. When we are looking at images like this and see luxury houses, it is a pretty restricted population of people who will live in them."
