One North Korean woman was killed and several others injured while working in freezing cold weather on the construction site of a power plant, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday.

The North's main newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported that a female nurse died as she tried to stop equipment from slipping at the construction site of the Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station near the border with China. It did not elaborate or provide details regarding the nurse's identity.

The paper also said several workers suffered severe frostbite as they walked hundreds of kilometers with construction material.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has taken special interest in the construction project that began in 2002.

Last year, he made two visits to the site and encouraged youth involved in the construction to speed up their work.

The paper mentioned the last visit by Kim in September, saying he expressed his deep respect for the patriotism of the young people working in cold weather.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said it is unusual for North Korea's official media to reveal casualties at a construction site.

"This appears to be an indication that Pyongyang wants results from the (ongoing) 200-day hard work campaign at all costs," he said.

The "200-day campaign of loyalty" is part of Pyongyang's five-year economic development plan, unveiled during a rare congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in May. (Yonhap)