New DPRK-Russia Friendship Hospital is Repurposing Existing Project
In late April, when officials from Russia and North Korea broke ground on the new DPRK-Russia Friendship Hospital in Wonsan, state media reports failed to mention something that was staring the officials in the face: the core of the new hospital is a half-constructed building that had been sitting untouched for more than a year.
The presence of the partially completed building was not acknowledged by the camera angles used in the coverage and state media hasn’t identified the building, but it is possibly that of the planned Kangwon General Hospital.
The use of a half-finished building, particularly one that was possibly intended to be a hospital, illustrates how Russian money is being used to further North Korea’s existing state projects and goals. It also shows how at least one existing state project is being recast to promote a favorable view of Russia and show North Koreans the country is getting something for sending its children off to fight a distant war.
Background
The project was announced by Kim Jong Un at the 10th session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly in January 2024, when he said, “If the Pyongyang General Hospital is completed and start its operation and a modern general hospital is built in Kangwon Province at the same time this year, models of health facilities suited to the new era will be provided.”
When Kim delivered his policy address in Pyongyang, residential buildings occupied the plot to the west of Wonsan Kalma Airport, but within two months of the speech, most had been leveled. A commercial satellite image from March 14, 2024, shows a largely clear site with a few buildings remaining standing or under demolition.
Figure 2a. Before the project was announced, apartments stood in the area. Image © 2026 Planet Labs, PBC cc-by-nc-sa 4.0. For media licensing options, please contact [email protected]; Figure 2b. Imagery from March 14, 2024 indicates many buildings have been cleared in the area. Image © 2026 Planet Labs, PBC cc-by-nc-sa 4.0. For media licensing options, please contact [email protected].
North Korean state media never identified the construction site of the Kangwon General Hospital, but the plot near the airport is a likely candidate as one of the few larger scale construction projects in the Wonsan area.
In fact, state media only appears to have mentioned the project once since Kim Jong Un’s speech. In the final line of an April 9, 2024, report on a round of agricultural visits by Premier Kim Tok Hun, it said “Earlier, the premier reviewed the process of construction of the Kangwon Provincial General Hospital on the spot and discussed and took measures to solve the problems arising in it.”
The report does not identify the problems faced by the construction but, whatever they were, the work continued. In April, the foundation for the first building appeared on the site and in May, the building began rising. Alongside this activity, new apartment buildings were constructed on adjacent land.
By the end of 2024, the first five floors of a large building at the center of the site had been constructed and several additional buildings had also appeared at the site. But then, as is also not unusual in North Korean construction projects, things apparently stopped.
A large number of temporary accommodation huts for construction workers adjacent to the site were cleared between May and June 2025, signaling the crews had been redeployed elsewhere.
Throughout 2025, no progress appears to have been made at the site and there was little movement until the run up to the groundbreaking on April 22 this year. The construction huts began reappearing in April and in an image from April 20, the stage for the groundbreaking ceremony is visible.
Since the groundbreaking, several of the ancillary buildings built in 2024 have been demolished and the site has been cleaned up. As of late May, the site appears relatively quiet although some trucks are visible.
Images of the planned friendship hospital indicate that the large central building constructed in 2024 will remain and rise higher to become the central building of the complex.
The groundbreaking on the new hospital came shortly after commercial satellite imagery identified a possible new medical helipad and related building at the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort. The new facility is just three kilometers away from the DPRK-Russia Friendship Hospital but is directly accessible from inside the facility.