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Cardiac hospital project: The gospel church's unfinished job

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Rev. Lee Yong-hoon of Yoido Full Gospel Church, front left, visits the construction site of the David Yonggi Cho Hospital in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this June 2008 file photo. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church
Rev. Lee Yong-hoon of Yoido Full Gospel Church, front left, visits the construction site of the David Yonggi Cho Hospital in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this June 2008 file photo. Courtesy of Yoido Full Gospel Church

By Kang Aa-young

Lee Yong-hoon
Lee Yong-hoon
A senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, the world's largest Christian congregation based in Seoul, expressed his hope for the completion of a cardiac hospital project in Pyongyang. The church had initiated the project a decade ago.

During a news conference at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday, Rev. Lee Young-hoon said his church is fully prepared to complete the construction of the hospital for cardiology and heart surgery in North Korea's capital, named David Yonggi Cho Hospital after the church's founder, as soon as possible.

"The hospital project has been suspended for nine years. We'd like to complete it by November next year," the pastor said. "If inter-Korean relations are normalized, the very first thing we're going to do is restart the hospital project."

He paid a visit to Pyongyang in November for the hospital project.

Rev. Lee's remarks came shortly after the local NGO Love One Korea got the green light from the Ministry of Unification to send to North Korea a humanitarian aid package, which consists of 420,000 tons of flour and medicine worth $111,000.

Despite the positive progress, there are still obstacles for the hospital project. North Korea is under sanctions for its past provocations, including the testing of nuclear bombs and missiles.

According to Lee, the project operator is not allowed to take construction materials to the North as they violate the sanctions. "The U.S. government views those materials as against sanctions. So we will see whether the problem can be resolved or not during the possible summit between the United States and North Korea next year," he said.

For the church, the completion of the hospital is a long overdue task.

Since it kicked off in December 2007 following the agreement with North Korea's Christian Federation to build an eight-story hospital with 280 beds, the project met a series of hurdles.

Construction was first suspended after its operator filed for bankruptcy.

Then the sinking of the military vessel Cheonan in the West Sea in March 2010 placed the hospital project in limbo for eight years.

A North Korean torpedo was pinpointed by an international investigation team to have sunk the Navy vessel. Forty-six sailors lost their lives. Following the probe results, South Korea imposed its own sanctions against the North.

Retired pastor David Yonggi Cho, the founder of the megachurch, has pushed for the hospital project in North Korea. During his sermon for a youth ministry in April, Cho said he came up with the idea of building a hospital in North Korea's capital while praying for children suffering from heart-related diseases. Church members have donated money for Southeast Asian children suffering from cardiac diseases and thanks to their support, some 5,000 children have had surgery.

According to Rev. Lee, the hospital project in Pyongyang is about 60 percent done.




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