A traffic accident involving female workers mobilized to work in road constructions in Onsong County occurred on August 26^th. 60 of the workers were placed in a Chinese cargo truck to be transported back home. At around 5pm, a break failure caused the truck to go off the road as they were coming down a slope.

About 15 of the workers died on the spot, and the death toll reached 33 on the 28^th. Among the critically injured, 18 are in the Musan County Hospital and 10 in the Gwangsan Hospital. Many of the patients have shards of glass buried in their stomachs and hips.

The official cause of the accident was said to be the improper maintenance of the vehicle by the driver, but it has been criticized that the women should not have been all placed in one truck in the first place.  Yondubong is frequented by tourists as a place commemorating Kim Il-Sung’s resistance against Japan, but the roads leading there are antiquated and require frequent maintenance when it rains.

The North Korean government regularly carries out these construction projects using forced labor, even with housewives. The forced laborers are chosen by area in a rotational basis.

The Government has blamed the driver for the accident and arrested him. The deceased workers were given a national funeral to commemorate their service to Kim Il-Sung’s name. However, no compensation was given to the victims’ families other than funeral expenses and a little food. In Musan County, each household was forced to pay 50 won to cover for funeral expenses.