Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.”“Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un delivers a speech during a ceremony at the Ryongsong Machine Complex in North Korea on Monday. Put simply, it was like hitching a cart to a goat — an accidental mistake in our cadre appointment process,” Kim said. Impoverished North Korea has long prioritized its military and banned nuclear weapons programs over providing for its people. The North Korean leader is “using public accountability as a shock tactic to warn party officials,” he added.

Source: Taipei Times January 20, 2026 16:39 UTC