A deputy department head of the people’s committee of Kapsan County, Yanggang Province, may lose his job after authorities ordered him to undergo an intensive ideological struggle session.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in Yanggang province told Daily NK on Wednesday that the deputy department head, who was in charge of financing the construction of local factories, “was subjected to an intensive ideological struggle session this month for making decisions on financing the construction of local factories without consulting his superiors.”
Earlier, the Yanggang Province Party Committee had ordered an intensive struggle session for the deputy department head on the basis of a joint statement written by the Kapsan County Party and People’s Committee.
In mid-February, the Kapsan County People’s Committee received an order to collect additional funds to promote the construction of local factories in accordance with North Korea’s recently announced regional development policy. The head of the finance department of the county people’s committee discussed the matter with the deputy head of the department.
The department head said that the county could provide about 25% of the materials needed for local factory construction, while local residents would have to provide the rest through “non-tax burdens.” The deputy head agreed.
However, the head of the county people’s committee took issue with this and complained that the officials had decided on such an important matter without consulting upper-level officials. He reported the matter to the county party committee, which reported it to the provincial party committee. In this way, the matter became a party problem.
However, the head of the finance department escaped censure even though he was a central figure in the matter, while the deputy department head in charge of construction finance took all the blame and was ordered to undergo an ideological struggle session.
“The deputy department head was usually scrupulous and precise in his work and didn’t grovel before the officials above him, so people called him an ‘unbending rod,’” the source said. “But by doing so, he fell out of favor with the officials above him, so this time he was stuck with the blame.”
After receiving the joint statement from the Kapsan County Party and People’s Committee, the provincial party committee praised the deputy department head for handling the state’s money as if it were his own, but took issue with his preemptive decision-making without discussing the matter with his superiors or local parties. He ordered the deputy director to undergo an intensive ideological struggle session.
Within the Kapsan County Party and People’s Committee, officials are discussing the deputy chief’s dismissal, the source said. However, many acquaintances and people familiar with the matter say that superiors who disliked the deputy department chief concocted the matter to get rid of him.
That is, people criticize how hard-working deputy head took all the blame instead of the director, who groveled before his superiors day and night.
“People say it’s ridiculous for officials to take issue with the fact that the deputy department head didn’t talk to his superiors when it’s commonplace to raise money for construction through non-tax burdens,” the source said. “They say the incident is a ploy by the county party and people’s committees to replace a deputy department head they don’t like.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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March 08, 2024 at 11:26AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)