Senior North Korean military official executed for calling Kim Jong-un order “unrealistic”

A senior North Korean official was executed for the scoring of “Unrealistic” the recent “special order” from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to provide food to people in the midst of the devastating famine from which the hermetic country suffers, reports this Monday Daily NK.

The executed officer is the Major General in charge of the logistics headquarters of Boot Camp 815. The civil servant He was court martialed and shot dead on July 18, a North Korean source told the newspaper. Daily NK. His fault? Criticizing Kim’s Special Order Saying Measure “Ignores Reality” of the impoverished country.

Kim’s special order decreed the public distribution of rice stored in military warehouses, at times when the North Korea’s economy recorded its biggest decline in 2020 since the deadly famine of the 1990s. The crisis is due to impact of the coronavirus pandemic, natural disasters and international sanctions that have crushed the already difficult state led by Kim Jong-un.

According to the source, the execution was known after the authorities will send a “notification” to soldiers with the rank of head of department and above. Sent on July 22, the notice details recent examples of “Severe penalties”.

The notification stated that after receiving the special order from the ruling party, the commander complained “Indiscreetly” enough to “Military granaries face more serious problems than the problem [de escasez] of food that people are faced with ”.

By criticizing Kim’s insufficient sense of reality, the officer has become a “sectarian” in the opinion of the authorities.

According to Daily NK, the execution tries to send the signal that “Those who openly challenge party policy will not be forgiven, no matter who they are.”

In addition, Kim apparently intends to distract from her own loss of face. by ordering “three months of supplies” without first determining the state of the military supply reserves. According to specialized media, some reports speak of a “Bloodbaths” of purges under the pretext of “eliminating the ideological poison of military sectarianism”.

However, according to reports, it would increase discontent among the military.

Serious economic situation

For years, North Korea blamed the United States for its economic problems and justified the huge share of state spending on its military as necessary to prevent an American invasion. But now, due to the impact of the pandemic, the regime seems to have finished the excuses.

In 2020, gross domestic product contracted 4.5% in the largest drop since 1997, according to estimates by the South Korean central bank. The report shows that the North Korean economy contracted last year to its smallest size since Kim took office in late 2011. Kim’s decision to close the borders over a year ago due to the coronavirus has brought trade down, slowing the flow with its main benefactor, China.

Kim, who is committed to improving the living conditions of the country, with one of the lowest levels of GDP per capita in the world, He acknowledged to his people and the ruling party that his state is suffering. He has issued rare warnings about economic hardship and food shortages, but so far has shown no indication that it is willing to resume talks on reducing its nuclear arsenal in exchange for economic incentives from other countries, including the United States.

On the contrary, Economic hardship hasn’t stopped Kim’s nuclear arsenal from growingAs Pyongyang produces enough fissile material for about six nuclear bombs per year.

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