Kim Jong-un, North Korea's state affairs commission chair, sharply rebuked Cabinet officials for irresponsibility at the completion ceremony for the modernization of an industrial equipment production plant and immediately dismissed the vice premier in charge of the project.
Korean Central News Agency said on the 20th that a completion ceremony for the first-stage renovation and modernization of the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, was held the previous day, and that the Chairperson delivered a speech in person.
The Chairperson said the achievement of this project was not the modernization of equipment itself, but that it "struck at entrenched irresponsibility and self-preservation," which surfaced in the process. The Chairperson criticized that although it is a major project that will have a significant impact on the overall national economy, the direction was off from the first stage.
In particular, the Chairperson publicly singled out Vice Premier Yang Seung-ho, who oversaw the machinery industry. The Chairperson said, "A person who does not fit the current position," and added, "I advise the premier to appoint someone else when forming the new government." The Chairperson then declared on the spot that Yang was dismissed, saying, "Leave on your own feet while you still can, before it is too late."
The Chairperson said there was no view that Vice Premier Yang had engaged in anti-party acts, but strongly condemned him, saying he "sought to mock the party center with improper words and deeds."
The Chairperson also said it was "like harnessing a goat to a cart," meaning he had been placed in a position beyond his abilities.
Yang Seung-ho is a senior official who has overseen the machinery industry, having served as manager of the Daean Heavy Machine Complex and as minister of machine industry, and risen to alternate member of the party Politburo. Dismissing such a figure in public is seen as a "showcase measure" meant to alert the entire Cabinet.
The Chairperson said the Cabinet had effectively neglected the Ryongsong Machine Complex modernization project, and pointed out that former Cabinet Premier Kim Tok-hun and senior officials responsible for policy guidance could not avoid responsibility. Since the 13th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee last month, Kim has not been seen in official activities, prompting talk that the former premier may have faced intense disciplinary action.
In this speech, the Chairperson also unusually disclosed in detail how the project ran into setbacks. As the modernization proceeded in a "slapdash" and "window-dressing" manner, the party center deployed a group of munitions industry experts to conduct a full review, and found more than 60 issues that needed correction.
However, the Chairperson rebuked that even after being criticized, responsible Cabinet officials were preoccupied with "self-preservation," shifting blame to the munitions industry.
The Chairperson said, "There are many problems in the current ranks of administrative officials," raising issues with the overall system for appointing officials. Saying, "We must decisively root out extreme irresponsibility, self-preservation, and a hoodlum-like style," the Chairperson strongly criticized the attitude of pretending to implement party decisions while actually looking out only for one's own safety.
The Chairperson also presented goals for further modernization of the complex and tasks to raise the machinery industry overall to a new level, the news agency said.
The Ryongsong Machine Complex is a representative machinery manufacturer in North Korea known as the "mother factory," and has supplied equipment to major mines, the Sunchon Vinalon Complex, and the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex.
Since taking power, the Chairperson has toured economic sites and publicly criticized bureaucrats' complacency and self-preservation. Analysts say the latest move is largely an effort to "tighten discipline" within the Cabinet in charge of the economy ahead of the 9th party congress expected next month. There is also talk that a sweeping personnel shake-up could take place around the party congress and the subsequent Supreme People's Assembly.