Chairperson Kim Jong Un of North Korea's State Affairs Commission visited Pyongyang General Hospital and rebuked officials, saying the completion was delayed because rules were broken during construction.
According to the Korean Central News Agency on 24th, Chairperson Kim toured Pyongyang General Hospital on 23rd ahead of its completion. He inspected the Pyongyang General Hospital, which was finished on Feb. 27 this year, but at the time only the exterior of the building had been completed, and there was no medical equipment or trained medical staff, so it could not open.
Pyongyang General Hospital was ordered by Chairperson Kim, who attended the groundbreaking in March 2020, to be completed by October that year, but chronic material shortages and the COVID-19 crisis overlapped, leaving it unfinished for more than five years until only the exterior construction was completed in February this year.
Regarding why the hospital's construction was delayed, Chairperson Kim said, "Although there were objective factors due to the global public health crisis, it originated from confusion in economic organization work that arose from the vanity of some leading Cabinet officials at the time and the Pyongyang General Hospital Construction Joint Executive officials."
He went on to point out, "They ignored the state's financial discipline and, even though the total construction budget for the hospital's scale and design changes had not been approved, pushed the work forward as they pleased, causing economic losses." He added criticism that "they even arbitrarily created an organization in the form of a support subcommittee and, while stirring up fundraising and support nationwide, caused a serious political problem that distorted the original intent of the Party's long-cherished project."
He also named a specific department, saying, "Among the officials who committed such unjust acts were former responsible officials of the Organization and Guidance Department of the Party Central Committee, who served as the political supervisor of the Construction Joint Executive." He noted, "Unavoidably, in December last year we had to take a special separate measure to return, without omission, all funds to individual units and residents who provided support money for the hospital's construction."
Furthermore, saying that the ills and complexities that emerged during construction delayed the hospital project by a year and a half, he said, "This is a typical example that shows the indiscipline inherent in the country's economic work, the subjective desires of officials, and the immaturity in political guidance."
North Korea is expected to open the hospital around the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party next month (Oct. 10) and highlight it as a state achievement. North Korean media said Chairperson Kim gave specific instructions for the completion ceremony, saying that "Pyongyang General Hospital is a gift our Party presents to the people as it greets its founding day." They also released footage of Chairperson Kim inspecting the hospital's rooftop helicopter landing pad, operating rooms, inpatient rooms, store, parking lot, and academic conference hall, and meeting with medical staff lined up in formation.