Many coal miners are now working hard tens or hundreds of metres underground to ensure power supply across the country. Kim Pong Chol, a workteam leader of the February 8 Jiktong Youth Coal Mine of the Sunchon Area Youth Coal-mining Complex, is one of them.

The situation of the workteam was very poor four years ago when he was appointed as its leader.

It took a considerably large share in the pit which specializes in tunnelling. But the rate of its implementation of the annual coal production plan was not so high.

“In fact, he was very anxious about the situation at first. But he was not enslaved to the given conditions. Rather, he knew what and how to do to overcome them,” said an official of the pit.

The well-known tunnelling worker was unrivalled in work. He often held demonstrations for new employees in cooperation with skilled miners to help them acquire good skills. He was exact in demand and enforced a strict discipline to make newcomers handle the rock-drills efficiently and reviewed their daily and monthly work thoroughly.

“Now we eagerly await the last day of every month. In the review held that day we come to know how much we have worked, often feel a pang of conscience and determine to work harder,” said Ri Ki Chol, a tunnelling worker.

The look of the workteam leader devoting his heart and soul to the members without a word woke them up.

Gradually, a habit of helping one another forward and studying something to carry out their plan was established. The wind of learning advanced technology and inventing new technical plans blew across the workteam.

In the course of it, new blasting and drilling methods were applied, which enabled the workteam to ensure the blasting efficiency over 90 percent and increase the per-attack progress, while reducing the consumption of explosive to a third of the amount used before.

As the workteam members markedly improved their mining skills, so did the number of blasts increased every day.

A month after he became the workteam leader, his workteam carried out its plan for the first time and has since fulfilled its plans every month and every year. Last year it hit the annual target till August 17 and this year exceeded the first quarterly target till March 25.

“In the past 60-metre excavation a month was so uphill a task, but now it has become easy,” said Jang Man Chol, another tunnelling worker.

Now the workteam is well-known to the coal mine as a group of labour innovators, a model technical innovation unit and a harmonious group.

“A commanding officer is not a man who merely gives tasks to others. If he shows a good example, even idlers follow him. Now our workteam members have become a family. I am so glad that they think of me as their true elder brother,” said Kim.