A tragic accident saw dozens of soldiers with the 9th Corps of the Chosun People's Army [KPA] lose their lives in a construction accident at the end of December, Daily NK has recently learned.

“The entire army started combat training back in December with the exception of the 9th Corps,” a source in North Hamkyung Province reported to Daily NK on January 9th. “Instead, they were mobilized to construction efforts in Yangkang Province, namely land readjustment projects, a ski resort, and Samjiyeon airport.”

Units comprising the North Hamkyung Province 9th Corps, stationed in Kyongsong County, are tasked with defending the entirety of the Province--from areas bordering China to the coastal regions. For these tens of thousands of soldiers to halt their military training and be mobilized to a different jurisdiction is highly unusual.

According to the source, soldiers with the 9th Corps were forced to traverse 200km by foot in order to be closer to the aforementioned construction sites. Rigorous schedules and frigid conditions led one soldier after the next to continuously develop frostbite. In northern mountainous regions such as this in North Korea, the temperature dips to 15 degrees below zero Celsius even at midday, and often plunges to 20 degrees or more below zero Celsius.

[Source: Daily NK]