TAIPEI, TAIWAN – North Korea is expected to send a large number of healthcare workers to Russia for training, a South Korean government-backed think tank said, as it tries to address a lack of in-house capabilities to achieve a goal of modernizing rural health services.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged in early February to make the modernization of regional health services a “top priority,” highlighting the “wide gap” between urban and rural areas.
He also said building public health facilities and multifunctional bases for cultural life was an urgent task that would accelerate “the simultaneous and balanced development of all fields and regions,” unveiling a plan to build 20 hospitals across cities and counties each year, from 2026.
But Jeong Eun-mi, a researcher at the Korean Institute for National Unification, believes the North will have no choice but to rely on Russia as it lacks the capability to achieve those aims on its own.
“Given the fact that the Pyongyang General Hospital, which began construction in March 2020, has still not opened, and that this year’s healthcare budget has only increased by 5.6% compared to last year, it is difficult for North Korea to achieve this on its own, making external help inevitable,” said Jeong.
North Korea has a long-standing practice of concentrating resources and prioritizing development in Pyongyang, as it serves as the showcase city for the regime. Major infrastructure projects, healthcare facilities, and economic investments are typically funneled into the capital to maintain its image of stability and progress.
Given this centralized allocation of resources, if even the capital struggles to complete a flagship project like the Pyongyang General Hospital, it is virtually impossible for rural areas to receive similar investments.
“Kim Jong Un, in his speech, strongly urged medical professionals to improve not only their medical skills and qualifications in line with the advancements of modern medicine but also their foreign language proficiency,” said Jeong.
“It is expected that a significant number of North Korean medical personnel will be dispatched to Russia in the near future,” she added, citing a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty Russia and North Korea signed in June last year.
The neighbors signed the treaty during a visit to Pyongyang by President Vladimir Putin. The treaty covers various areas of cooperation, including healthcare, medical education and science.
As part of the agreement, Russia pledged to assist North Korea in constructing a new hospital, aiming to enhance its healthcare infrastructure.
“Most North Korean healthcare workers lack experience in operating modern medical facilities and have limited academic qualifications and medical skills,” Jeong explained.
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‘Not what I expected’
A Russian soldier who was treated recently at a medical facility in North Korea told media that he did not receive the sort of medical treatment he was expecting.
“It wasn’t what I expected, but I thought I should try it out,” the soldier, who identified himself as Aleksei, told the Guardian newspaper, without elaborating.
Aleksei was one of the hundreds of Russian soldiers covertly sent to North Korea for medical rehabilitation and rest.
Russia’s ambassador to North Korea said in early February that “hundreds of Russian soldiers” who fought in Ukraine were “undergoing rehabilitation in North Korean sanatorium and medical facilities.”
About 4,000 of the up to 12,000 North Korean troops dispatched to Russia’s Kursk region late last year to help it in its war against Ukraine have been killed or wounded, according to Ukraine. Neither North Korea nor Russia has acknowledged their presence.
Aleksei added he shared a facility in Wonsan, where one of North Korea’s main tourist beach resorts is located, with about two dozen other Russian soldiers.
He spent days playing table tennis and cards with fellow servicemen, while enjoying access to a pool and a sauna.
Aleksei and the other soldiers were forbidden from going outside in the evenings or making contact with residents of the area, and alcohol was also hard to come by, he told the British newspaper.
Edited by Mike Firn.