"Most Rescued Miners Do Not Return to Work, Saying 'I Don't Want to Go Back to the Mine'"

Bonghwa Miners Rescued After 221 Hours Diagnosed with PTSD
Trauma Persists, Making Recovery Difficult; Company Also Discourages Return to Work

Park Jeong-ha (62), the work foreman who was trapped for 221 hours due to a zinc mine collapse accident in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongbuk, is having a regular dinner while hospitalized at Andong Hospital on the afternoon of the 7th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lee Gyehwa] A miner who was trapped in a mine collapse accident in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongbuk, last month on the 26th and rescued after 221 hours has expressed that he does not want to return to the mine.

The two miners currently hospitalized were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during psychiatric treatment. It is reported that the two miners were prescribed sleeping pills due to difficulty sleeping properly.

Park Jeongha (62), the team leader who survived the mine collapse accident site, reportedly told his family and acquaintances, "I am distressed because the situation of being trapped keeps coming to mind," and "I will not enter the mine site again in the future." Park also requested, "Supervisory agencies should inspect so that miners can have confidence that they can work safely underground," and "the treatment of miners needs to be improved." He also expressed his intention to take a short break and then resume activities for mine workers. Park had worked for over 10 years at an organization related to the welfare of mine workers in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do.

Most miners who miraculously survived after being trapped underground for a long time due to mine collapses are known not to have returned to the coal mines. According to industry sources on the 9th, Yang Changseon (36 at the time), a miner who was trapped in a collapse accident at Gubong Mine in Cheongyang-gun, Chungnam, in August 1967, did not return to active duty after the accident and left the coal mine. He was trapped 125 meters underground in the mine shaft and was rescued after 15 days (368 hours), setting the record for the longest period survived after being trapped in a mine accident in Korea.

Miner Lee Okcheol (34 at the time) did not leave the coal mine but was transferred to an office job. Lee was trapped for 5 days (115 hours) in a collapse accident at Eunseong Mining Site in Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk, in January 1981 and survived. Although he showed the will to "go back into the mine shaft" while receiving hospital treatment after being rescued, it is known that the company assigned him office work.

In addition, most miners who miraculously survived collapse accidents in coal mines around Taebaek, Gangwon-do, in the 1970s and 1980s are reported by the mining industry not to have returned to active duty. An industry official said, "Although they wrote a drama of human victory, it will be difficult for them to easily return to the coal mines due to trauma," and "even if the surviving miners want to, the company will be reluctant to assign them to coal mining work."