Mick Hartley

The latest on the troubled Pyongyang General Hospital, from the Daily NK:

Construction began on Pyongyang General Hospital in March 2020, following a special order from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The exterior of the building is complete, but the opening of the hospital has been delayed several years because of issues acquiring the necessary materials, equipment and medical devices….

The Pyongyang General Hospital, located in the Okryu No. 3 neighborhood of Pyongyang’s Taedong River District, is a signature project of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that is under the management of North Korea’s Red Cross.

Project began on the hospital on March 17, 2020, following special orders from Kim Jong Un. But as of this fall, four years and six months later, the hospital has yet to open because of the difficulty of importing medical equipment.

The exterior of the building has been completed, and planting and landscaping has been completed in garden areas on the rooftop and on the grounds of the 6.1-hectare lot. But there has been little progress on the interior of the building, and the authorities cannot afford to acquire the equipment, materials and medical devices needed to open the hospital.

Friendly countries have offered to supply the necessary medical equipment, but North Korea has appended unacceptable conditions, insisting that those countries provide the equipment gratis or send it over on the understanding that North Korea will pay the cost at some later date.

Russia could provide the missing medical equipment. During Kim’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang in June 2024, Putin introduced Kim to Russia’s health minister and said that Russian medical equipment might be helpful in the construction of the Pyongyang General Hospital. So North Korea is probably trying to arrange for medical equipment to be shipped from Russia.

North Korea and Russia reached an agreement about medical care during the same summit. During a weeklong trip to Russia in April, two months earlier, North Korea’s health minister discussed sending North Korean medical students to Russia for training and doctors for professional development.

Great hopes were placed on the hospital at the time, as a signature project of Kim Jong Un. The official Rodong Sinmun report:

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….

Kim Jong-un's sister joined in, with her own chacteristically deranged enthusiasm:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, has ordered the creation of a series of literary works focused on the Pyongyang General Hospital project, Daily NK has learned. 

The works are expected to depict Kim Jong Un’s love for the people and the ideological fervor of Pyongyang General Hospital (PGH)’s construction workers, a source in the country told Daily NK on June 25.

“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. 

We've heard no more, alas, of this ambitious project.

Meanwhile a spate of accidents were reported, as construction workers fell to their deaths in the rush to get the hospital built.

So now it's the Russians to the rescue. We'll see…