Hoeryong railway maintenance drive forced onto factory and enterprise workers
North Korean authorities in Hoeryong, a city in North Hamgyong province, launched a grueling railway maintenance drive in August 2026. Officials mobilized factory and enterprise workers to strip out and relay the gravel bed beneath a stretch of rail line. Each worker also had to individually supply new gravel, a source said, and the demands […]
In August 2026, Hoeryong, a city in North Hamgyong province, North Korea, initiated an intense railway maintenance drive, mobilizing factory and enterprise workers to strip out and replace the gravel bed beneath a stretch of rail line. Each worker was tasked with supplying their own new gravel, a significant increase in workload and physical strain compared to past drives.
The city people’s committee, which instructed workers that "railways are the arteries of the country," ordered each factory and enterprise to maintain a specific section of track and added that the quality of the maintenance work would influence how factories and enterprises were evaluated. Workers were left to fend for themselves when it came to tools, with each unit having to supply their own shovels, pickaxes, and carts for hauling gravel.
Many workers complained of being pressured as the directive was used as an opportunity for unit leaders to check on progress and avoid criticism, further fueling resentment among laborers. The burden of the labor was disproportionately felt by those who could not afford to pay for rental carts, leaving them to spend grueling days hauling and laying gravel under the sun, significantly impacting their health and well-being.
Written by urgent.news from Daily NK's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
