Kim slams local North Koreans for unfinished power plant
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has blasted local officials over a delayed construction project, state media reported Tuesday, his second such rebuke over the economy in recent weeks.
It’s unusual for state media to carry dispatches showing Kim’s criticism of officials. Some experts say Kim, eager to claim economic gains, may intend to blame underlings for problems before possibly launching new economic policies.
The latest fury, as Kim negotiates with the United States over abandoning his nuclear weapons programs, came during a visit to the power plant’s construction site in the northeast. After officials briefed him about the project and its delays, he was “speechless” and “extremely enraged,” the Korean Central News Agency reported.
The plan originally was ordered in the early 1980s by Kim’s late grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.