Mick Hartley

The building of the Pyongyang General Hospital has, sadly, not been proceeding according to plan.

We first heard of this exciting new project back in March 2020:

The general hospital to be built at the best place on the picturesque bank of the Taedong River is another gift of loving care which will be presented to our people by the WPK [Workers' Party of Korea] that makes a ceaseless journey of selfless and devoted efforts for our people, the best one in the world.

The venue of the ceremony was pervaded with the enthusiasm of builders for remaining loyal to the intention of the Party Central Committee to give fuller play to the advantages of the Korean-style socialism and ensure the most highly civilized and happiest life for the people by attaining radical development in the public health work.

At the moment when Supreme Leader of the Party, state and armed forces Kim Jong Un arrived at the venue of the ground-breaking ceremony, all the builders raised stormy cheers of hurrah in honor of him who has made tireless efforts with ardent loving care for the people to open a broad avenue of fresh advance of the Korean-style socialism….

The hospital was supposed to be completed in 200 days. State propaganda went into overdrive, with the Supreme Leader's sister Kim Yo Jong leading the way: 

“On June 20, comrade Kim Yo Jong instructed the Propaganda and Agitation Department to produce 75 volumes, including full-length and short novels and poetry collections, by the 75th anniversary of Party Foundation Day on Oct. 10,” the source said. 

“The April 15 Literature Writing Group, which is under the Korean Writers; Alliance, has been tasked with the writing, while the Munhak Yesul Chonghap Chulpansa will be responsible for printing and publishing,” he added. 

Specifically, Kim Yo Jong ordered the creation and publication of ordinary books that describe the Supreme Leader’s great love for the people and outstanding leadership in directing the construction of PGH, as well as the significance of the construction project. 

In her order, Kim stressed the importance of the role played by writers, stating that “workers in the literary arts must play their part in making Oct. 10 a great celebration of victory that will be remembered as another proud moment in the party’s history.”

Nothing yet. The rest, as another great literary figure remarked, is silence.

The rush led inevitably to a number of accidents, with poor safety standards and exhausted workers falling to their death.

Now here's the latest, from the Daily NK:

Since assuming power, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promoted his so-called “love of the people,” boasting of efforts to modernize the country’s public healthcare facilities. One of these facilities, the Pyongyang General Hospital, was supposed to be completed within 200 days, but remains unopened even today, three years after the start of its construction. 

The hospital’s exterior and interior construction work have been completed, as has work on the outside landscaping, nearby roads and green areas, a reporting partner in Pyongyang told Daily NK recently, speaking on condition of anonymity. Only two companies of engineers with a single construction brigade remain at the site to maintain it, he added….

“There’s probably no country that can match the construction power of the North Korean military,” Daily NK’s Pyongyang-based reporting partner claimed. “As for erecting the building itself, they finished it according to plan, but they have been unable to bring in and install the medical equipment.”

The only medical devices North Korea can produce domestically are basic things like hospital beds and simple operating tools. In fact, the country relies on imports for all of its medical equipment, but the process of importing this equipment, including their cost, are difficult barriers to surmount, the reporting partner said. 

“Despite North Korea’s announcement that it would build a modern general hospital amid the pandemic in early 2020, the country appears to have lacked the financial wherewithal to invest in importing medical equipment as the pandemic dragged on,” Choi Jung-hoon, a senior researcher at Korea University’s Public Policy Research Center and a former doctor in North Korea told Daily NK. “In short, the Pyongyang General Hospital was pushed down the priority list of projects to complete.”

Another expert told Daily NK that the regime is now focusing on projects like building 50,000 new apartments in Pyongyang, construction of rural housing and greenhouse farms, which are relatively free from issues involving the import of materials or equipment.

“Construction is what North Korea does best and it can complete projects quickly, so after the regime’s failure to open the Pyongyang General Hospital as planned, the Workers’ Party has been placing its priority on [completing] simple construction projects,” a researcher from a South Korean government-affiliated policy think tank told Daily NK, speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to Daily NK’s reporting partner in Pyongyang, North Korean authorities are mulling over when and how to open the Pyongyang General Hospital. They are also discussing a plan to open its doors by properly equipping at least one department in its major ward. As this suggests, it will take time to completely equip and open the entire hospital. 

That being said, the Pyongyang General Hospital is the biggest achievement Kim has made in the public healthcare sector since taking power 10 years ago, so the regime believes that it must distinguish the hospital from other medical facilities in Pyongyang, the reporting partner said. 

“Given that the Workers’ Party intentionally put the hospital on a site in front of the Workers’ Party Foundation Monument, it must use the hospital – which would boast the highest quality facilities – to prove that its policies are centered on the people. The regime still has nothing to prove this, however.” 

Oh well. Perhaps the building will join the Ryugyong Hotel – construction started in 1987, still unfinished – as another Pyongyang monument to hubris and failure.