North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dismissed a vice premier over a factory modernisation project in a rare public rebuke ahead of a ruling party congress, state media has reported.
Mr Kim blamed Yang Sung Ho, a vice premier in charge of the machine-building industry, for causing what he called “unnecessary man-made confusion” during works to modernise the Ryongsong Machine Complex in the northeast of the country, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Tuesday.
In an apparent move to tighten discipline among officials ahead of the upcoming Workers’ Party congress – which looks to establish new political and economic priorities – Mr Kim said the project had suffered “not a small amount of economic loss” because of irresponsible and incompetent officials.
In a speech marking the completion of the complex’s first-stage plan on Monday, he said authorities had wasted “large amounts of funds and labour” and that the munitions industry sector was subsequently left with a heavier burden, according to KCNA.
The outlet also said Mr Kim had previously criticized Mr Yang during a party meeting last year and on Monday called his dismissal an “incidental mistake”.
Mr Kim said: “To speak figuratively in simpler words, he [Mr Yang] was like a goat yoked to pull an ox cart.
“We should see this as an incidental mistake in our practice of personnel appointment.
“Could we expect a goat to pull a cart for an ox?
“As of today, I declare you dismissed, comrade vice premier.”
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While a public rebuke is rare, the North Korean leader has occasionally criticised or fired senior officials in a bid to restore discipline or place blame on them for economic hardships and policy failures.
In recent years, Mr Kim has pushed to overcome what he calls defeatism, irresponsibility and passiveness in economic sectors in an effort to address chronic difficulties with the country’s economy, which suffered significant set-backs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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North Korea‘s economy grew 3.7% in 2024, according to South Korea’s central bank, but analysts say the country could find it difficult to achieve rapid growth because of a highly centralised economy, international sanctions and a focus on weapons programmes.
The Workers’ Party congress, the first of its kind in five years, is likely to open later in January or February, South Korea’s spy service said.
