Kim Jong-un dismisses and publicly criticizes a vice minister for the first time in an unusual gesture to reinforce his power

“Kim Jong-un dismissed Yang Sung-ho immediately,” the KCNA said about the president’s move made on Monday during the completion ceremony of the first phase of the modernization project of the Ryongsong Machinery Complex, which supplies equipment to North Korean mines and other industries, in South Hamgyong province, northeast of Pyongyang.

Although he celebrated the conclusion of the first phase of the project, Kim took advantage of the event to denounce serious failures in Yang’s management, in charge of supervising the machinery industry, and those responsible for economic orientation, which caused economic losses.

“It was like hitching a cart to a goat… Is it a goat that pulls a cart, or an ox?”said the leader of the hermetic regime about the failures in the development of the first phase.

Yang’s dismissal comes amid rumors of possible sanctions on former Prime Minister Kim Tok-hun following his public absence from the party’s 13th plenary session in December.

South Korean intelligence and local experts indicate that Pyongyang will celebrate its 9th Party Congress this month or in February, where personnel changes are anticipated. Kim’s latest measures could be interpreted as a preview of such a restructuring.