This photo, carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Feb. 28, 2025, shows the newly built Pyongyang General Hospital. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – North Korea has completed the building of a general hospital in Pyongyang after five years of construction and plans to open it in October to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), according to state media Friday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Pyongyang General Hospital the previous day, expressing his satisfaction that a “solid springboard” has been laid for developing the public health sector, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In March 2020, Kim attended a ceremony marking the start of building the hospital, ordering its completion by October that year. But the construction had slackened due to a chronic shortage of construction materials and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new hospital has 30 modern operation rooms, departments of emergency and professional treatment, service facilities and a helicopter landing ground, according to the KCNA.
Photos carried by the state media showed Kim looking around the exterior of the hospital, the rooftop helicopter landing ground and interior facilities. But there were no photos of medical equipment seen at the hospital.
North Korea said the hospital is expected to open in October to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the WPK after assembling medical equipment and facilities and conducting trial tests of their operation. The North’s party anniversary falls on Oct. 10.
“It is necessary to perfect the Pyongyang General Hospital, to be opened this significant year set by the WPK as the first year of the public health revolution, as the best medical service center without any slightest defect and present it to the people,” Kim said.
Pointing to the absence of photos of medical equipment, Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson at Seoul’s unification ministry, told a press briefing that “North Korea appears to need medical devices and technology to be introduced from the outside for the October opening.”
For the latest inspection, Kim was accompanied by Premier Pak Thae-song, Jo Yong-won, party secretary in charge of organizational affairs, and Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North’s leader.
Earlier this month, North Korea unveiled a plan to build hospitals in three counties in a pilot project this year and construct 20 hospitals across cities and counties each year, starting in 2026. The move is part of Kim’s signature policy of developing backward regions to help boost the people’s livelihoods.
(Yonhap)
