Kim Jong Un publicly fires a deputy prime minister after comparing him to “a goat”. Harsh attack on “incompetent” officials
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has abruptly sacked a deputy prime minister and launched attacks on senior officials in a rare public rebuke. Deputy Prime Minister Yang Sung Ho was dismissed “straight away”, Kim accusing him of incompetence and irresponsibility.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. PHOTO: AFP
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Vice Premier Yang Sung Ho was fired on the spot, with Kim accusing him of incompetence and irresponsibility.
“Please, Comrade Deputy Prime Minister, resign yourself when you can before it's too late,” the North Korean leader would have declared, according to the state media, cited by France 24.
North Korea, under severe international sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic programs, faces a deep economic crisis and chronic food shortages.
Although Kim Jong Un frequently criticizes officials deemed lazy or inefficient, such a public dismissal is extremely rare.
On Monday, at the inauguration of an industrial machinery complex in Hamgyong province, the Pyongyang leader criticized cadres who have “become accustomed to defeatism, irresponsibility and passivity”. About Yang Sung Ho, Kim said he is “unfit to be entrusted with heavy tasks”, comparing his appointment with “to tie a cart to a goat”emphasizing that “an ox pulls a cart, not a goat.”
Kim called for an acceleration of the modernization of the economy and the overcoming “secular retreats”, to secure the future of the North Korean state. Images released by official media show the leader with a stern facial expression addressing the workers present at the event.
The new industrial complex is part of a strategic production zone that provides about 16 percent of the country's total car production, according to South Korean experts.
Analysts believe that the public humiliation of the deputy prime minister is intended to send a warning message to the political elite, as Pyongyang prepares for the first congress of the ruling party in five years, where economic policy and military planning will be prioritized.
