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| 2026-01-20 09:03:08
(LEAD) NK leader-vice premier
(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim sacks vice premier over irresponsibility ahead of key party congress
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with info, photos)
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sacked a vice premier of the North's cabinet over the official's irresponsibility in modernizing a machinery plant, state media reported Tuesday, in a rare public dismissal ahead of a key party congress.
Kim dismissed Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho "on the spot" at an inauguration ceremony of the first-stage modernization project at the Ryongsong Machine Complex on Monday, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim said the project "encountered difficulties and incurred not a little amount of economic loss, experiencing unnecessary man-made confusions," according to the report.
The Ryongsong Machine Complex project was promoted under Kim's plan to advance the country's machine-building industry at the ruling Workers' Party of Korea's (WPK) eighth party congress in 2021.
Kim also accused Yang of attempting to mock the party center with "unjust remarks and acts," saying he was unqualified for the post.
Yang, a former machinery industry minister promoted to vice premier in charge of the machinery sector, is also an alternate member of the party's Politburo.
The rare public reproach of a vice premier appears aimed at tightening discipline among economic officials ahead of the upcoming ninth party congress, where the regime is expected to outline an economic development vision and conduct a personnel reshuffle.
Kim said the party had to deploy a group of experts to conduct an overall review of the project, adding that around 60 problems were reported due to its shoddy implementation and accusing Cabinet officials in charge of passing the buck and engaging in self-protectionism.
The WPK "has come to a clear-cut determination ... that breaking with old practices of pinning hope on those who have too long been accustomed to defeatism, irresponsibility and passiveness will be a new starting point for future pioneering and development," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.
The North Korean leader, meanwhile, set next-stage modernization goals for the complex, as well as detailed tasks to propel the development of the country's machine-building industry, the KCNA said.
The Ryongsong Machine Complex in South Hamgyong Province is a major machinery plant that supplies equipment to key mines and other industrial factories.
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