Construction on a new hospital in North Korea is struggling to meet deadlines, so authorities told doctors and nurses to put down the stethoscope and pick up the toolbelt, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
The country’s leader Kim Jong Un last August ordered construction of the new hospital in an industrial area of Hamju county, in the eastern province of South Hamgyong, but he also said that he wanted it finished by the end of 2024.
Now the authorities are scrambling to get it finished. As with most government projects, the military and residents are being mobilized to provide free labor or donate construction materials.
But now with the clock ticking, the county government is leaning on the medical workers, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Since hospital construction began, military hospital and clinic staff have been mobilized to the construction site for more than two hours every evening,” he said. “All hospital staff, except the emergency department and on-duty doctors and nurses, must participate.”
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In addition to providing labor, the doctors and nurses must donate money to the project, the resident said.
“A few days ago, an order was given to provide funds for hospital construction,” he said. “The set offering is 100,000 won (US$6) for doctors and 50,000 won ($3) for nurses,” he said.
Even for a doctor, 100,000 won is an enormous sum in North Korea, enough to buy about 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) of rice at the latest market price published by the Osaka-based Asia Press media outlet that specializes in news about North Korea.
“When the order was delivered, hospital staff complained, saying, ‘How can we pay 50,000 won or 100,000 won at a time when we don’t have enough money to prepare for winter?’“ the resident said. ”Some people say that their blood pressure will explode when they are told what to pay.”
He said the order was relayed by a lower-level party secretary, who explained that the orders came from above, and the intention was to rely on the doctors and hospital staff to donate to their future workplace.
“The hospital staff glared at the secretary,” he added.
Another hospital, in Orang county in nearby North Hamgyong province, is also leaning hard on residents to be completed on time, a resident there told RFA.
“In the early days when construction of local industrial factories began, there was no pressure towards residents, so people thought that the measures initiated by Kim Jong Un himself were clearly different,” he said. “But now, there is so much pressure to pay and do more for the project.”
For the Orang county hospital, workers from local factories are made to work on the hospital, and residents must wake up at dawn or go in on their days off to help out, the resident there said.
“At the end of September, every household in the county, excluding farmers, had to donate 20 cement blocks,” he said. “This is on top of having already donated money twice to provide support for the soldiers who were working on the project,” he added.
As with the Hamju county hospital, military doctors and nurses have been working on the project. The Orang resident said that they finish their healthcare work and then go immediately to the construction site for a few hours.
“Last week, the authorities forced the doctors and nurses who will work at the new hospital to pay cash,” he said. “They said that doctors and nurses who will work at the new hospital should take the lead in supporting hospital construction. Each doctor and nurse gave at least 50,000 won.”
The reaction to the project has not been positive, the Orang resident said.
“It is good to see a modern hospital being built instead of a shabby and outdated military hospital,” he said. “But it is not right to force the burden on residents and medical workers.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.