North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made on-the-spot visits to approximately 30 sites over the past few months. He has handed out either praise or criticism depending on his perceived success of projects, all to the joy or ruin of government officials on the receiving end.
Kim has offered high praise to those responsible for construction projects in Samjiyon, a location he has visited twice in the past month. Other places have not been so lucky. In North Hamgyong Province, which has uniformly received withering criticism from Kim, there is now an intense backlash occuring in the province’s Party and administrative organs.
Kim has ceased his public appearances for the past two weeks, but purges of management officials have been reported at the Myohyangsan Medical Device Factory–the last place Kim visited.
During his tour of the factory on August 20, Kim harshly criticized the managing officials and even the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), saying, “[The factory] reminds me of a stable. [You] have been lying for years.”
“The officials at the Myohyangsan Medical Device Factory were the target of so many insults [from Kim] that they reportedly shuffled around very ashamed,” said a source based in North Pyongan Province on September 4.
“An order was handed down to conduct self-criticism at all the factories and enterprises in North Pyongan Province and to modernize their production processes.”
The source also noted that “as soon as the on-the-spot visit was finished, the OGD started investigating the medical device factory,” and that while “there was no evidence of corruption, the factory officials were criticized for being complacent toward Party orders, having a lax attitude, and acting in their own self-interest that led to considerable damage to the state.”
As a result, the director of health services at the Ministry of Health, the Party secretary of the factory, and three managers in its engineering department who were all responsible for modernization were purged. This degree of punishment, however, is not considered particularly severe compared to the purges that have occurred at the OGD following Kim Jong Un’s repeated criticism of the organization.
“They are all just thankful that they weren’t lined up and shot,” said a separate source in North Pyongan Province with knowledge of the incident.
“A new Party secretary and manager will arrive in early September and lead the modernization of production processes at the factory.”
Ordinary North Koreans have shown mixed responses to Kim Jong Un’s harsh criticism of officials in charge of production during his on-the-spot visits, as well as the OGD conducting its own purges of officials.
Some North Koreans [the source spoke to] expressed the need for purges due to the complacent and overbearing attitude of provincial officials, while most North Koreans [he spoke to] thought that the measures taken by the authorities were too harsh given that officials were not the only ones who “committed crimes”, with the central government also to blame due to its lack of financial support.
Chinese-made consumer goods throughout the country are rapidly being replaced by locally-made products. However, in the spheres of pharmaceutical goods and medical devices, Chinese imports remain popular due to their quality and price.
“State-run factories and enterprises have to sell their goods in the market to survive,” the second source pointed out.
“The needles and blood sugar testing devices produced in factories in North Pyongan Province, however, are poorer in quality than single-use needles and testing devices produced in China. How can North Korea create modern medical devices [given this situation]?”
