Two large hospitals are being built in the Taedong River District of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. I recently examined progress on the hospitals through satellite imagery.
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.
In addition, satellite images show that construction resumed late last year on a cardiac hospital in Pyongyang that is being built by the Seoul-based Yoido Full Gospel Church. Ground was broken on the project back in December 2007, but construction was suspended in 2010 and the project was put on hold for more than a decade afterward.
Opening of Pyongyang General Hospital remains delayed
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.
That has prompted speculation that medical equipment and machinery from advanced countries could make its way into North Korea via Russia.
Construction resumes on cardiac hospital in Pyongyang
In late 2007, Seoul-based Yoido Full Gospel Church began construction on a cardiac hospital in the Tongmun No. 2 neighborhood of the Taedong River district of Pyongyang with the goal of finishing the work in June 2010.
After the first inter-Korean summit in June 2000, Yoido Full Gospel Church accepted a proposal from then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and began preparing for the construction of the cardiac hospital. The hospital that is being built can support 260 beds, covering seven floors and one basement level on a 1.95-hectare lot.
But the company managing the construction project went out of business, and inter-Korean relations grew icy following the sinking of the Cheonan corvette in March 2010. After South Korea announced sanctions known as the May 24 Measures, construction was paused on the cardiac hospital. It was not until 2022, 12 years later, that permission was received to resume construction, and workers have finally returned to the site.
Satellite imagery appears to show that the hospital building’s concrete exterior is finished. After a hiatus of 14 years, construction appears to have begun on an auxiliary building on a lot to the west of the main building.
The groundwork has already been completed on the auxiliary building, and walls and dividers are currently going up. It appears that construction work resumed at the site in late 2023.
Yoido Full Gospel Church had said it hopes to finish the hospital by the end of 2024, but the outstanding work goes far beyond the building itself — the facility grounds need to be landscaped, the hospital interior needs to be done, and various equipment needs to be acquired and installed. Given those factors, the hospital is unlikely to be completed this year.
Even after the hospital is opened, maintenance is of critical importance
For a cutting-edge hospital with the latest equipment, operations and maintenance can be regarded as even more important than the initial construction. All that fancy equipment needs to be regularly checked and kept in working order by purchasing the necessary materials, replacing old parts and repairing anything that malfunctions.
When buildings are not properly maintained, either because of inadequate funding or for other reasons, they soon become dilapidated. That leads to concerns that these new hospitals could end up becoming mere shells of their former selves.
The North Korean regime may ask Yoido Full Gospel Church for help with hospital operations, as it has often done before. In fact, the regime may even think it is within its rights to do so. In that case, the church may end up being on the hook indefinitely for hospital upkeep.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
