The Pyongyang General Hospital () is a hospital under construction in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. The hospital is located in front of

Monument to Party Founding The Monument to Party Founding () is a monument in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The monument is rich in symbolism: its hammer, sickle and calligraphy brush symbolize the workers, farmers and intellectuals. It is 50 meters high to sym ...

. Its groundbreaking took place on 19 March 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 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 The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

Background

NK News NK News is an American subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about North Korea. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C., and London. Reporting is based on in ...

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". At the groundbreaking ceremony, Chairman

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

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. After groundbreaking, several officials penned op-eds in ''

Rodong Sinmun ''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean official newspaper of record of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on 1 November 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel for the North ...

'' vowing to wage “all-night battles” for the hospital's construction. 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.

Construction

By April 2, foundation works were already 63% complete, according to the '' Pyongyang Times''. By 15 June, the two towers of the hospital had topped-out. The project has passed the original deadline of October 2020 and is yet to be opened, although preparations for the operation of the hospital have been 'pushed ahead'. In January 2021, ''

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

'' 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 A number of country and international bodies have imposed international sanctions against North Korea. Currently, many sanctions are concerned with North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and were imposed after its first nuclear test in 2006. ...

stalled importing hospital equipment. 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.

Recent Visit of the Leader

On the 27 of February 2025, Kim Jong Un visited the hospital again where

KCNA The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) () is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features o ...

reported that the hospital is completed and ready to be inaugurated in October which is the month of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the

. Kim expressed his satisfaction of the completed hospital project.

References

{{reflist Hospitals established in 2020 Hospitals in North Korea Buildings and structures in Pyongyang 2020 establishments in North Korea