Illegal home medical treatments are widespread not only in North Korea’s provinces but even in the capital Pyongyang. The main reason is that official medical institutions like hospitals lack basic medical supplies.
“So-called private medicine or ‘neighborhood doctors,’ which have become commonplace in the provinces and rural communities, can now often be seen even in Pyongyang,” a Daily NK source in the country said recently. “With hospitals losing their function in the practical sense, people seek private doctors or treat themselves at home using folk remedies.”
According to the source, a woman in her 40s living in Pyongyang’s Pyongchon district visited a private doctor in late April for acupuncture to treat her back pain. The doctor was highly regarded for his acupuncture skills, drawing lines of patients seeking treatment. This woman, too, had heard about his reputation and sought his help.
However, after her visit, she developed a fever, and the area of her back where she received acupuncture became inflamed—signs of an infection. She eventually went to a nearby hospital, where staff diagnosed her with an infection but told her she would need to purchase her own antibiotics since the hospital had none.
The woman decided there was no point staying in the hospital if she had to buy her own medication from the market, so she simply returned home. She later took antibiotics purchased from the market, and once her infection symptoms improved, she returned to the private doctor and is now continuing acupuncture treatments for her back pain.
“Even if you go to the hospital, you receive no treatment. Since you have to buy medicine in the market anyway, hospitals are just empty shells,” the source said. “People visit private doctors even though they know it’s illegal, because hospitals are hospitals in name only.”
Since it’s clearly illegal for private doctors to practice medicine in their homes, they must risk government crackdowns. In Pyongyang especially, where crackdowns and inspections occur regularly, private doctors only accept patients they know and treat them discreetly.
“Since private doctors face exile from Pyongyang to the provinces if caught, the better ones never take patients they don’t know,” the source said. “People who visit reputable private doctors have money, while those without money simply endure as long as they’re not dying.”
While the North Korean authorities promote free medical care in their propaganda, even official medical institutions in Pyongyang lack supplies, making proper patient care impossible, according to the source.
As a result, people have no choice but to visit private doctors with good reputations or treat themselves at home with medicine purchased from the market, taking responsibility for any punishments or side effects.
“Since the state doesn’t properly supply medicine, people have to take care of their health on their own,” the source said. “In some cases, people even ask for injections from anyone they know who can administer shots.”
