Pyongyang General Hospital
Geography
LocationPyongyang, North Korea
Coordinates39°01′43″N 125°46′18″E / 39.02861°N 125.77167°E / 39.02861; 125.77167
Organisation
TypeGeneral
Services
HelipadYes
History
Construction started19 March 2020
Links
ListsHospitals in North Korea

The Pyongyang General Hospital (Korean: 평양종합병원) is a hospital under construction in Pyongyang, North Korea. The hospital is located in front of Monument to Party Founding. Its groundbreaking took place on 19 March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its construction proceeded on the basis of a "speed campaign" with an expected completion date of October 2020, before the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Workers' Party of Korea.[1]

Background

NK News reported that the project had been agreed at a four-day meeting ending on 31 December 2019, which had "discussed and decided on the tasks to first construct a modern general hospital in Pyongyang for the promotion of the health of the people for the 75th Party Foundation anniversary".[2] At the groundbreaking ceremony, Chairman Kim Jong-un admitted that there were "numerous obstacles" to completing the hospital in such short a time and that completion of the hospital would come at the expense of other projects.[2] After groundbreaking, several officials penned op-eds in Rodong Sinmun vowing to wage “all-night battles” for the hospital's construction.[3] The hospital is considered the first major project of the "head-on breakthrough" campaign, in the mould of the Chollima Movement, conceived in the wake of the failure of the Hanoi summit (and the corresponding lack of sanctions relief) and the subsequent downplaying of the five-year plan.[4]

Construction

By April 2, foundation works were already 63% complete, according to the Pyongyang Times.[5] By 15 June, the two towers of the hospital had topped-out.[6]

The project has passed the original deadline of October 2020 and is yet to be opened,[7] although preparations for the operation of the hospital have been 'pushed ahead'.[8]

In January 2021, Radio Free Asia reported that the exterior of the hospital was complete, but the interior was still incomplete, as the COVID-19 pandemic and sanctions against North Korea stalled importing hospital equipment.[9][10] In April 2023 it was published that in June 2022 Kim Jong-un approved the hospital's interior designs as well as the uniforms of the medical staff.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Williams, Martyn (3 April 2020). "Construction Progressing Rapidly at the Pyongyang General Hospital". 38 North. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 Zwirko, Colin (17 March 2020). "Kim Jong Un orders large new Pyongyang General Hospital to be built by October". NK News. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Kim, Jeongmin (20 March 2020). "North Korean officials vow "all-night battle" to build new Pyongyang hospital". NK News. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Wang, Son-taek (15 April 2020). "Why North Korea may have, quietly, scrapped its last five-year economic plan". NK News. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "Excavation reaches 63% level, concrete tamping begins for hospital project". Pyongyang Times. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  6. ↑ Williams, Martyn; Makowsky, Peter (9 June 2020). "Construction in Pyongyang: The General Hospital and More". 38 North. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  7. ↑ "North Korea slams 'vaccine nationalism' at World Health Assembly in Geneva | NK News". NK News - North Korea News. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  8. ↑ "GENERAL STATEMENT DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA SEVENTY-FOURTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBY" (PDF). World Health Organization.
  9. ↑ "북 평양종합병원 개원 기약없어…"한중합작 승강기 설치 예정"". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  10. ↑ 기자, 장슬기. ""평양종합병원에 중국産 의료설비 수입 계약 간부 처형돼" | DailyNK" (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  11. ↑ Colin Zwirko (2023-04-27). "Signs of progress? Kim Jong Un approves designs at long-stalled hospital project". NK News. Retrieved 2023-04-27.


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