North Korea praises coal miners for risking their lives

SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- North Korea's coal miners are being lauded for risking their lives while fulfilling quotas for Pyongyang's mass mobilization movement known as the 200-day battle.

The Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun stated on Friday workers at the Wolbong coal mine in South Pyongan Province rushed in to dig for coal moments before the mine's tunnel collapsed.

The workers were allegedly paying no attention to safety precautions, opting to continue to work while foregoing an evacuation.

But the North Korean newspaper called the workers a "model unit" of self-empowerment and strength in a detailed report that identified the coal mine in the Dokchon district of South Pyongan Province, Yonhap reported.

The title of the article urged readers to "break through production goals," before providing the details on the coal miners whose risky activities were framed as exemplary.

The North Korea statement described a scene where rocks "big and small" began falling along a path that "tilted at a 20-degree angle" where workers participated in a "suicide mission."

"Without regard for the risk to their lives, they...waged a fierce battle" against challenging conditions, the article read.

The North Korean report also stated the coal miners undertook a massive recovery operation in 18 hours that should have taken four days.

The article also stated all work undertaken by risk-taking laborers had resulted in a five-fold increase in the production of coal, and exceeded production goals of the 200-day battle by 10 percent.

The pressures on the population to fulfill state demands during the mass mobilization movement have led to at least one death in North Korea. In July a source said an ill woman killed herself after being required to volunteer free labor on behalf of the Kim Jong Un regime.