North Korean leader Kim Jong Un publicly fired his vice premier, comparing him to a goat and criticising lazy, incompetent officials at a factory opening.
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly sacked his vice premier and launched a rare, scathing attack on “incompetent” officials.
State media reported that Kim fired Vice Premier Yang Sung Ho “on the spot” during a speech at the opening of an industrial machinery complex.
“Please, Comrade Vice Premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said.
He compared the appointment mistake to hitching a cart to a goat instead of an ox.
Kim blasted cadres who have “too long been accustomed to defeatism, irresponsibility and passiveness”.
The leader urged a quick turnaround to overcome the “centuries-old backwardness” of the North’s economy.
Analyst Yang Moo-jin said the public dismissal is a “shock tactic” to warn other party officials.
This mirrors past cases like the 2013 execution of Kim’s uncle, Jang Song Thaek, for alleged treason.
The nuclear-armed North has long struggled with a moribund state-managed economy and chronic food shortages.
It prioritises its military and banned weapons programmes over providing for its people.
The new machine complex is part of a large manufacturing belt in the country’s northeast.
Pyongyang is preparing for its first ruling party congress in five years, with economic policy high on the agenda.
Last month, Kim vowed to root out “evil” and party “deviations”, a euphemism for corruption.
Images showed Kim delivering the speech in South Hamgyong Province to workers in uniform.