North Korea's Kim dismisses vice premier over factory project

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dismissed a vice premier in charge of the country's machine-building industry, state media reported Tuesday, in an apparent bid to strengthen discipline among senior officials ahead of the upcoming ruling Workers’ Party congress to establish new economic and other state objectives.

The Korean Central News Agency said that Kim blamed Yang Sung Ho for causing “unnecessary man-made confusion” in a speech marking the completion of a first-stage modernization project at the Ryongsong Machine Complex in the northeast on Monday.

Kim said the project suffered “not a small amount of economic loss” because of irresponsible and incompetent officials. Kim said authorities wasted “large amounts of funds and labor" and that the munitions industry sector was subsequently left with a heavier burden, according to KCNA.

Kim said he criticized Yang during a party meeting in December and watched him closely, but found that he felt no sense of responsibility at all, KCNA said.

"As of today, I declare you dismissed, comrade vice premier,” Kim said.

In recent years, Kim has pushed to overcome what he calls defeatism, irresponsibility and passiveness at economic sectors as part of efforts to address the country's chronic economic difficulties. Kim has also occasionally publicly rebuked or fired senior officials to restore discipline or place blame on them for economic hardships and policy failures.

North Korea's economy suffered major setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea's central bank said North Korea's economy grew 3.7 % in 2024, but many observers say the country would find it difficult to achieve major, rapid economic growth due to its devotion of scarce resources to weapons programs, its inefficient highly centralized economy and persistent international sanctions.

The Party congress, the fist of its kind in five years, is likely to open later in January or February, according to South Korea's spy service.