Seoul pushes to send 166 medical devices to North Korea as Kim vows to 'thoroughly reject' South

Documents submitted to National Assembly's foreign affairs committee reveal plan to supply Gangdong-gun hospital

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the ground-breaking ceremony for the Gangdong-gun hospital and general service center on Feb. 6, 2025, KCNA reported the following day. [Yonhap]

The South Korean government is pushing to send 166 types of medical equipment to North Korea.

According to documents the Ministry of Unification submitted Monday to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Dae-sik of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the government plans to provide the 166 types of medical equipment to a hospital in Gangdong-gun, Pyongyang, as part of a health care cooperation initiative aimed at supporting the modernization of North Korea's local hospitals.

Unification Minister Jeong Dong-young delivers a welcoming address at the 2026 Korean Peninsula Peaceful Coexistence Policy Festival held at the National Assembly on Monday. [Yonhap]

The ministry did not disclose the specific types of equipment but told the Assembly it plans to provide essential medical devices for diagnosis, surgery and treatment.

The Gangdong-gun hospital, completed in November last year, was the first project under Kim Jong-un's initiative to build modern hospitals in local counties. His government has been pursuing a "Local Development 20x10 Policy" — a plan to build modern local industrial factories in 20 counties every year, with the goal of raising the basic material and cultural living standards of the entire population by one level within a decade.

To carry out the project, the government secured a sanctions exemption from the UN Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee for the provision of humanitarian medical equipment.

The funding is expected to come from the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund under a budget category called "other economic cooperation projects," which does not require the government to publicly disclose specific uses.

The key question is whether North Korea will accept the offer.

The Lee Jae Myung administration has raised the banner of "peaceful coexistence," but Kim directed in a January 2024 policy speech to the Supreme People's Assembly that South Korea be enshrined in the constitution as the primary enemy state and an immutable principal adversary. In March, at another session of the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim said North Korea would "recognize South Korea as the most hostile state and thoroughly reject, ignore and deal with it in the clearest words and actions." He also said, "Whether our adversaries choose 'confrontation' or 'peaceful coexistence' is their choice — we are prepared to respond to either."

A government official told Yonhap the plan follows a "ready to go" approach — resolving sanctions and funding issues in advance so the equipment can be delivered immediately if North Korea agrees to accept it. "We are preparing so that we can launch the project as soon as dialogue gets under way," the official said.

Lawmaker Kim said, "With South Korean citizens already struggling to make ends meet, how many people would truly support a policy of sending 166 types of medical equipment to a North Korea that champions the 'two hostile states' doctrine and continues developing nuclear weapons?" He called on the government to reconsider what he described as a "submissive" North Korea policy that leads with aid while Pyongyang maintains its hostile posture toward the South.

jshan@heraldcorp.com