Kim Visits Hospital Project, Fires All Officials Involved

This could be a sign sanctions are biting
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 20, 2020 2:01 PM CDT
Construction of Hospital Kim Called for Not Going So Well
In this undated photo provided on Monday, July 20, 2020 by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a construction site of a hospital in Pyongyang.   (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un berated construction managers for unspecified problems in building a showpiece hospital in comments reported Monday that may indicate the country is struggling to secure supplies amid US-led sanctions and a coronavirus lockdown. During a visit to the construction site in Pyongyang, Kim lamented that his ambitious project of building a new general hospital was being carried out in a "careless manner" and without a proper budget and ordered all officials responsible to be replaced, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

The report said Kim accused construction managers of making a "serious digression" from the ruling party’s policy over the supply of materials and equipment by "burdening the people by encouraging all kinds of 'assistance,'" which apparently indicated rising complaints among people who were mobilized for its construction. In announcing the plans to build the hospital in March, Kim made a rare acknowledgement that his country lacks modern medical facilities and called for urgent improvements in the country’s health care system, the AP reports. However, the country hasn’t directly linked the hospital project to the coronavirus pandemic and has steadfastly maintained that no one in its territory has been sickened by COVID-19, a claim many foreign experts doubt.

(More North Korea stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X