Mine collapses have been common in North Korea recently, blamed on increased mineral extraction and insufficient mine supports due to a shortage of timber.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in Jagang province said Tuesday that a mine collapse in the province’s Jinchon county in late June left one miner dead and six injured. The six barely survived and were so severely injured that they had to be hospitalized for two months.
A cave-in at the same mine in May injured several people. Fortunately, no one was killed.
“Apart from Jinchon county, there have been a series of mine shaft collapses all over the country this year,” the source said. “Only last year there were one or two collapses a year, but this year there are collapses every two months.”
The direct cause of the near tripling of mine collapses is the failure to properly erect mine supports to stabilize shafts.
North Korean mines still use wooden pit posts, but obtaining wood for them is a challenge. In the past, wood from mountains near the mines could be used, but now the military or munitions factories have taken all those trees for their own use, leaving none for mine pit posts.
As a result, mines today place pit posts at 40-centimeter (15.7-inch) intervals when they should be at 20- to 30-centimeter (7.9- to 11.8-inch) intervals. Mine shafts have increased significantly due to this inability to densely place these pillars that support the tunnels.
In addition, as North Korean authorities pressure mining regions to increase coal and metal ore production, miners are working faster and extracting more, another cause of mine collapses.
North Korean authorities have recently ordered increased mineral production in order to earn foreign currency from coal or metal ore exports. Daily NK recently reported that major trading companies received a Cabinet order last month instructing them to expand exports of key mineral resources.
Mine workers fail to receive rations on time
Meanwhile, miners are increasingly unhappy over recent delays in rations, with supplies going two or three months into arrears.
In the case of mining districts in Jagang province, no rations were provided for three months, from April to June. Only in early July did miners receive rations. Because miners receive fewer rations than they were supposed to receive the longer they are delayed, they are quite unhappy.
The miners received the delayed three months of rations in early July, but they only received 70% of what they were supposed to, the source said.
However, miners are criticized and sent to a reeducation camp if they are absent without leave for three or more days due to the danger of the work or the lack of rations. Despite complaints about their environment and treatment, they have no choice but to continue to work.
“Complaints are skyrocketing because you often wake up and learn that a coworker died in a work accident, and rations are often delayed despite the heavy workload,” the source said. “Once you become a miner, you have to work at least 10 years, and people say you’re lucky if you work a decade without an accident.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.
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