November 6, 2025
SEOUL – North Korea’s newly opened Pyongyang General Hospital, hailed by state media as a facility at the “world’s best level,” is drawing skepticism after Seoul officials and observers said it appears to lack even basic modern medical equipment.
The hospital, which began admitting patients Monday, according to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency, after more than five years of construction, was touted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as the heart of national health modernization. Yet photographs and videos released by state outlets KCNA and Korean Central Television show only limited equipment — notably a computed tomography scanner and an X-ray machine, with no sign of a magnetic resonance imaging device or other high-end diagnostic systems.
Despite its impressive infrastructure — with a helipad, grand lobby and conference halls — as shown in photos and videos, the hospital’s interior suggests serious technological shortfalls.
A Seoul Unification Ministry official, requesting anonymity, said Wednesday that Seoul’s assessment, based on the photos, indicates that the facility likely “struggled to secure high-priced, cutting-edge medical equipment.” The official added that the most expensive device seen during Kim’s inspection was a CT scanner, underscoring Pyongyang’s continued challenges under international sanctions restricting imports of advanced medical technology.
The opening marks a symbolic milestone for Kim, who first broke ground on the hospital in March 2020 and vowed to complete it within seven months — a deadline repeatedly delayed by material shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction on the building’s exterior was finished earlier this year, but installation of equipment and staff placement were reportedly completed only in recent months.
Observers say North Korea is now seeking outside help to fill technological gaps.
The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said that Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko visited the North in late October to discuss medical equipment and pharmaceutical cooperation with the North’s Public Health Minister Jong Mu-rim, accompanied by Russian experts who toured the Pyongyang General Hospital.
Analysts note that while the facility’s launch allows Kim to tout visible progress in health care, the lack of genuine modernization underscores the regime’s isolation and limited access to high-end imports.
The KCNA reported Tuesday that Pyongyang General Hospital began receiving patients a day earlier, praising the facility as being “at the world’s best level” and capable of offering “top-tier medical services.”
In an earlier report, the KCNA said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently inspected the nearly completed Kangdong County Hospital outside Pyongyang, urging a “health care revolution” to modernize the country’s public health system.
During the visit, Kim called for medical equipment to be installed by next month and announced plans to build modern hospitals in 20 cities and counties each year. The inspection came the same day US President Donald Trump departed South Korea after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, as Pyongyang remained silent on Trump’s calls for a meeting with Kim. Kim said the issue of hospital construction will be reviewed at the next Central Committee plenary session of the ruling Workers’ Party.