Mines in the Sunchon and Pukchang districts of South Pyongan Province were recently ordered by the Ministry of External Economic Relations to transport coal to Nampo port for export, Daily NK has learned.
A source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Thursday that mine workers in Sunchon and Pukchang waged a “hasty production struggle” for five days after the Ministry of External Economic Relations — North Korea’s trade ministry — issued a surprise order to mines in the two districts on Nov. 11.
“Trade officials from the Ministry of External Economic Relations went directly to the production sites to learn the coal supply situation and are working with the sales departments to turn the heat up on coal transportation,” he said.
According to the source, the emergency coal transportation period was set for about 10 days. An “emergency transportation struggle unit” is currently shipping coal to the port of Nampo on a non-stop basis using 10-ton cargo trucks.
The Sunchon and Bukchang mines had already conducted several state-ordered emergency coal transportation operations this year, so they were reportedly in a state of permanent standby, with trucks and fuel ready to transport coal as soon as an order came in, as well as with accurate production predictions prepared by sales departments.
The Sunchon mine received an order to deliver everything they had, emergency coal stores included, with poor-quality coal sent for distribution to factories and the general public. Accordingly, the source said workers there waged a production struggle in preparation for additional coal transportation requests.
The source said about 30 ten-ton trucks have been mobilized for the effort, including ones temporarily mobilized by the state, with the vehicles making two trips a day to Nampo.
“Worried about even the slightest carelessness in this latest emergency coal transportation effort, Ministry of External Economic Relations trade officials and mine officials are sitting right next to the drivers, following along as escorts and keeping them on their toes,” he said.
The source said the coal brought to Nampo is immediately being exported to China.
He said ships laden with coal carefully check their orders from Pyongyang and weather reports when they leave port. They are also on standby to set sail at a moment’s notice when there are heavy clouds over the rendezvous point in the high seas where they will clandestinely unload their cargo.
“[The authorities] are also regularly checking if ships have fake ship numbers prepared to replace their real ones for when they enter Chinese ports,” he said.
Although UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea ban the export of coal to North Korea, signs continue to emerge that the country is smuggling coal away without being noticed by the international community.
However, North Koreans unaware of the international political situation are wondering why the country “must sneak around like a wartime partisan” when it exports coal, the source said.
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