A South Korean church has received an international sanctions exemption from the U.N. to send more than 1,200 items needed for the long-suspended construction of a cardiac hospital in Pyongyang, the U.N. website showed this week.

The exempted items are “for a project treating severe diseases of vulnerable groups in DPRK through Pyeongyang Cardiac Hospital,” reads the letter by the U.N. Security Council’s 1718 sanctions committee dated Oct. 28. The letter indicates that Yoido Full Gospel Missions Foundation (YGMF), an arm of Yoido Full Gospel Church, should deliver the items within a year, though this may not be possible due to North Korea’s continuing border restrictions.

The list of exempted items does not state the monetary value of the goods but includes:

• building materials, such as resin, silicone, latex, brick and gravel, marble tiles, pipes, water supply tanks, power supply, motor generators, and glass wall materials;
• furnishings, such as televisions and a set top box, internet and cable ports, ceiling lamps and LED lights, multiple air conditioners and heaters, desks, beds, blankets and security cameras;
• and medical equipment, such as anesthesia machines, CT systems, X-ray machines, ICU beds, ventilators, patient monitors, heart and lung machines, laryngoscopes and ultrasound equipment, syringes and oximeters.

Earlier this week, South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province also received a sanctions exemption from the U.N. 1718 committee to support the construction of a “disinfection-purposed swine house facility and to provide disinfection equipment in order to prevent the spread of African Swine Fever,” with a list of items worth total $747,855.

Construction on Pyongyang Cardiac Hospital started in 2007 as an inter-Korean project of YGMF, with an initial budget of around $17 million (20 billion won). But work on the hospital halted after South Korea enacted unilateral sanctions on North Korea in May 2010.

NK News analysis of Planet Labs satellite imagery shows no notable developments or activity at the hospital’s construction site in recent months.

A pastor in charge of the church project told reporters in February that the church had requested a U.N. sanctions exemption and that construction might resume around August.

At the time, he anticipated that it would only take six more months to wrap up construction, with 70% allegedly completed before the suspension.

Back in June 2019, the church also said that North Korea contacted them requesting some 1,300 items, mostly for use inside the hospital rather than equipment for exterior construction.

Satellite imagery of the construction site of the Pyongyang Cardiac Hospital shows no new activity or development despite the recent exemption | Image: Planet Labs, edited by NK News

DELIVERY AND MONITORING

According to the U.N. website, the church plans to send items for the hospital construction from Incheon, with some entering North Korea by land at Sinuiju from Dandong, China and others by sea at Nampho from Dalian, China.

It is unclear when the items will actually be able to go into the DPRK, as only a handful of international aid items have been delivered since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Some COVID-19 quarantine-related medical goods and other aid items made it into Nampho through the sea route from Dalian, but these shipments constituted a limited number of goods.

Even if new items do reach North Korea, it is unclear how the South Korean church will be able to monitor whether North Korea uses the 1,200 items to resume construction.

North Korea has closed its borders to incoming personnel from international aid groups over the past two years, and there are currently no known humanitarian workers inside the country.

The DPRK has also faced difficulties finishing state-run construction projects, likely due to a lack of resources and other economic issues. North Korea already missed the initial deadline for completing Pyongyang General Hospital after Kim Jong Un promised to finish by Oct. 2020.

YGMF was not immediately available to comment on when and how North Korea requested its South Korean counterparts to send such items, or whether South Korean counterparts will be able to monitor the construction.

Colin Zwirko contributed to this report. Edited by Bryan Betts