We first heard about Pyongyang General Hospital in March 2020, when Kim Jong-un vowed that a brand spanking new hospital would be constructed in double-quick time to be ready by October, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
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....
The excitement rose in June 2020 when Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong ordered the creation of a series of literary works glorifying the Pyongyang General Hospital project:
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.
“The April 15 Literature Writing Group, which is under the Korean Writers; Alliance, has been tasked with the writing, while the Munhak Yesul Chonghap Chulpansa will be responsible for printing and publishing,” he added.
Specifically, Kim Yo Jong ordered the creation and publication of ordinary books that describe the Supreme Leader’s great love for the people and outstanding leadership in directing the construction of PGH, as well as the significance of the construction project.
As October neared, however, the news grew less and less promising, with tales of shoddy construction, workers falling to their deaths, and faulty equipment.
Now here we are two years later - and the hospital still hasn't opened:
North Korean authorities recently issued an order to open Pyongyang General Hospital within the year.
The hospital has yet to open, despite a public pledge by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to complete the facility by Oct. 10, 2020.
According to a Daily NK source in Pyongyang on Monday, North Korean authorities recently ordered the Ministry of Public Health to complete equipping and systemizing Pyongyang General Hospital so it can open within the year.
The source said the party is preparing an opening ceremony for the hospital, focusing on its political significance as “an achievement of the first decade of Kim’s official administration.”
A failure of the first decade of Kim’s official administration, surely. He's been supreme leader since 2011.
At the groundbreaking of the hospital on Mar. 17, 2020, Kim called on everyone to work together to open the facility by Party Foundation Day — Oct. 10 — of that year “without fail.”
However, builders could not keep the deadline in the face of multiple adverse factors, including the protracted closure of the border in the wake of COVID-19 and foreign currency shortages due to international sanctions....
North Korean authorities have presented two concrete goals to open the Pyongyang General Hospital; namely, to smoothly deliver required medical equipment, and to equip the hospital with a remote medical system so that it — as the top hospital in the land — can provide medical services to lower-level hospitals.
According to analyses of Google Earth images and reporting by Daily NK, the exterior of the hospital appears complete.
Multiple sources in the country told Daily NK that while the hospital’s exterior and landscaping have been complete since the middle of last year, the facility still lacks medical equipment and finished interiors.
Moreover, according to the Pyongyang source, along with ordering the hospital to become an “advanced medical institution” with remote medicine systems, the authorities have called on the facility to play the role of “mother hospital.”
North Korean authorities have recently been focusing on promoting the party’s image as one that looks after the people, emphasizing the “mother party.”
Along the same lines, calling Pyongyang General Hospital the “mother hospital” suggests authorities are promoting the role of Kim Jong Un’s “leadership of love of the people” in its construction.
The term “mother hospital” also appears to underscore the unified system of control and maintenance linking Pyongyang General Hospital and small regional medical institutions.
In its order to the Ministry of Public Health, North Korean authorities called on Pyongyang General Hospital to play the role of “mother” to all other hospitals, and to provide remote surgeries and treatments to allow regional hospitals to treat diseases they cannot treat on their own.
Meanwhile, the party has yet to decide whether Kim will attend the opening ceremony of the hospital.
The source in Pyongyang pointed out that Kim ordered the “completion” of the hospital, but not the “opening” of the hospital. Nevertheless, he said party officials feel “somewhat burdened” by the failure to carry out Kim’s instructions.
No word on those literary works.
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