It has been confirmed that the North Korean government has requested resumption of construction work on the Cho Yonggi Cardiac Hospital in Pyongyang. Its construction was interrupted eight years ago.
On April 14, Pastor Emeritus Cho Yong-gi of Yoido Full Gospel Church spoke about this news in his sermon at the 100th commemoration service of Worship at Work held at Icheon City Hall, Gyeonggi-do. Rev. Cho said, “Recently North Korea sent a letter of intent requesting us to finish the construction as soon as possible. So preparations are being made to resume the construction of the cardiac hospital in Pyongyang, which had to stop in the middle when South-North relations stiffened.”
Rev. Cho said, “Thanks to God’s grace, I’ve communicated the Gospel while traveling around the globe 120 times. Our church members have saved money from recycling and brought children with cardiac disease from Southeast Asia to Korea so that they could receive surgery. The number of those children has reached 5,000. In my prayers, God inspired me to help North Korean children with cardiac disease. So we decided to build a cardiac hospital in Pyongyang… In North Korea, they put famous persons’ names on universities, hospitals, and so on, and named the hospital Cho Yonggi Cardiac Hospital. In 2007, we had the groundbreaking service at Bongsu Church in Pyongyang, together with the North Korea Christian Federation.”
Rev. Cho added, “The construction of the hospital was stopped when it was 60% done. Following the May 24 sanctions on North Korea, we wanted to continue the construction, but the government at the time didn’t allow us to send any construction materials to the North.”
A source at Yoido Full Gospel Church explained, “If the South-North summit proceeds successfully, there is a good possibility that we can continue the construction. International relief group Samaritan's Purse (representative: Franklin Graham) promised to fund the medical facilities, and a contract is under planning to supply a medical team of retired Severance Hospital doctors who will reside and work in North Korea for one year.”
*Taken on November 3, 2011, the photo shows the Cho Yonggi Cardiac Hospital with its basic structure finished. Kukmin Daily DB.
Reporter Yeong Dae Yoo (ydyoo@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Original Article in Korean:
“北, 평양 조용기심장병원 공사 재개 요청”: 이천시청 시정발전 기도회서 조용기 원로목사 밝혀
“North Korea has requested resumption of Cho Yonggi Cardiac Hospital construction”
2018-04-17 16:22
