North Korea’s Kim calls for better health care in hospital speech

SEOUL, South Korea  — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said it was “crucial” to improve his country’s health care system during a groundbreaking ceremony for a general hospital, state media reported Wednesday, amid worries about the coronavirus in the impoverished North.

In this Tuesday, March 17, 2020, photo provided on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends the ground-breaking ceremony of a general hospital in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim said it’s “crucial” to improve his country’s health care system during the ceremony, state media reported Wednesday, amid worries about a coronavirus outbreak in the impoverished North. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea has been engaged in an intense campaign to guard against COVID-19, though it hasn’t officially reported any cases of infection.

Experts say North Korea is extremely vulnerable to an infectious disease due to its chronic lack of medical supplies and outdated medical infrastructure.

The Korean Central News Agency said Kim ordered the construction of the new “modern general hospital” in Pyongyang to be completed before October’s 75th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Kim said the state’s efforts should be directed “to prop up the field of public health,” KCNA said.

Kim also said his country’s ruling party decided on building the hospital during a key party meeting in late December and was working to have it finished “in the shortest time.”

Some observers said North Korea may have hurried the construction since China reported the first cases of the new disease in late December and North Korea soon closed its borders in a disease-control measure.

Kim’s attendance at the hospital ceremony also confirmed he returned to Pyongyang after supervising artillery firing exercises on North Korea’s east coast. His visits to the rural coastal areas had prompted outside speculation he might have been trying to avoid the virus.

GSG