Report: Kim Jong Un guides missile tests near luxury villas

May 30 (UPI) -- North Korea's weekly missile tests are escalating tensions on the peninsula but leader Kim Jong Un may have ordered Monday's launch near the comfort of one of his many luxurious villas.

Recent tests indicate Pyongyang is launching short and mid-range missiles from different locations, and each location is close to a villa, often referred to as a "guesthouse" in North Korea that belongs to the ruling Kim family, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

The tests usually take place early in the morning, and Kim may prefer to spend the night at one of his palatial residences, before providing field guidance for next day's test, according to the report.

North Korea did not disclose the location of Monday's launch, but data analyzed by Yonhap indicate Kim was watching from a stand in the Kalma Peninsula on the eastern coast, to track the launch through a "precision control guidance system."

The launch site is situated near the "602 guesthouse" in Wonsan, Kangwon Province, where the North Korean leader spent much of his childhood, according to the report.

The guesthouse entered the spotlight in South Korea in July 2014, after Kim reportedly ordered North Korean field-grade officers to compete in a 6-mile swimming competition at a beach adjacent to the guesthouse.

In March of the same year, Kim ordered senior army commanders to prostrate themselves while competing in a shooting tournament at the location.

According to a defector who spoke to Yonhap, Kim may have also taken up residence at another villa, the Changsong guesthouse in February and mid-May, when he watched the launch of the Pukguksong-2 and the Hwasong-12, respectively.

The projectiles were each launched from Panghyon Airport in Kusong, North Pyongan Province.

Another beachside villa, Kim's Seoho Guesthouse, was where the leader may have stayed to relax before and after the launch of the KN-6 surface-to-air guided missile on May 27.

North Korea's use of crawler-transporters as launchers enables the country to constantly change the site of tests, a source on North Korea told Yonhap.

Recent photographs of Kim from state media show him with a transdermal patch affixed to his chest, a sign he may have a chronic health condition, according to South Korean press reports.