Legacy of Terror: Dozens of Unexploded American Bombs Found at Construction Site of Pyongyang General Hospital

North Korean media has widely reported on the discovery of dozens of unexploded bombs at the construction site of the Pyongyang General Hospital, including 50kg and 250kg munitions. The bombs are though to have been dropped by the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, during which population centres across the country were intensively targeted from the air. The war took place from June 25th 1950 to July 27th 1953, but remains technically ongoing under an armistice. By the end of 1950 the U.S. Air Force was dropping 800 tons of munitions on North Korea every day, the majority against population centres. More ordinance was dropped on the small East Asian state over three years than against the entire Japanese Empire during the four year Pacific War leading to a death toll in the millions. While the discovery of dud bombs in Pyongyang is unusual today, bombs across the country have been uncovered continuously since the war ended - with the cleanup operation expected to take over 100 years. Similar issues have been faced by a number of targets of American firebombing attack such as Cambodia and Vietnam, although the more urbanised and developed state of the North Korean economy made it more vulnerable to such indiscriminate attacks on population centres. The targeting of Korean population centres with incendiary weapons to maximise casualties on such a scale and for such a prolonged period has led a number of scholars to term it a genocidal act.

North Korean media reported that members of the explosive disposal squad of the Pyongyang Municipal People’s Security Bureau safely disposed of the dud bombs. The Pyongyang General Hospital began construction earlier this year, and represents part of a broader effort to improve healthcare in the country.