North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chastised top ruling party officials for failures in anti-epidemic work that led to an unspecified "great crisis" and put the safety of the country and people at risk, state media said on Wednesday, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The report by state news agency KCNA did not elaborate on what happened, or how it put people at risk.
Kim called a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea politburo to address some party executives' neglect of duty, including failing to implement important long-term measures to fight the pandemic, KCNA said.
"He mentioned that senior officials in charge of important state affairs neglected the implementation of the important decisions of the Party ... and thus caused a crucial case of creating a great crisis in ensuring the security of the state and safety of the people and entailed grave consequences," the report said.
Several politburo members, secretaries of the central committee, and officials of several state agencies were replaced at the meeting, though KCNA did not specify if the shakeups were related to the neglect of pandemic-related duty.