North Korea's Kim purges vice premier, slams incompetent officials

North KoreanleaderKim Jong Unhas fired his vice premier and railed against "incompetent" officials in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory, state media said Tuesday.

Vice Premier Yang Sung Ho was sacked "on the spot", the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, in a speech in which Kim attacked "irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials".