Kim Jong-un dismisses vice-premier over Ryongsong factory modernisation

Kim Jong-un has dismissed a vice-premier responsible for the machine-building industry after failures in a factory modernisation project at the Ryongsong Machine Complex in the north-east, state media reported. The Korean Central News Agency said Kim blamed Yang Sung-ho for causing "unnecessary man-made confusion" in the modernisation works and that the project suffered "not a small amount of economic loss" because of "irresponsible and incompetent officials." KCNA quoted Kim as saying he had criticised Yang at a party meeting in December, watched him closely and found he felt "no sense of responsibility at all," adding: "To speak figuratively in simpler words, he 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?" Observers noted that publicly scolding and firing officials is Kim's familiar management style. Kwak Gil-sup of the One Korea Center said Kim probably aimed to "create extreme tensions among senior officials" to push them to produce better results.

Moon Seong-mook of the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy said the project's troubles were more likely the result of "fundamental structural problems," such as dedicating scarce resources to weapons programmes, rather than the failings of a single official.

Key Topics

World, Kim Jong-un, Ryongsong Machine Complex, Yang Sung-ho, Workers' Party Congress, Machine-building Industry