North Korean major general executed for criticising Kim's order as 'ignorant of reality'

Pyongyang [North Korea], August 2 : A major general was killed for reportedly saying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's military granaries distribution order was 'ignorant of reality'.
The top general was executed for saying Kim's order to open military storehouses and release wartime grain reserves to the hungry public was "unrealistic," according to the Seoul-based specialty news outlet DailyNK, cited Asia Times.
The organization, which keeps in touch with people inside North Korea, quoted one of its sources there as saying: "The major general in charge of the logistics headquarters of Training Camp 815 was court-martialed and shot on July 18 after he criticized Kim's special order as 'an order ignorant of reality.'"
On July 22, the regime notified "military officers ranked department head and above" of the punishment in a warning message that included "detailed recent examples of 'stern judgments'" in other cases, DailyNK's source said.
The notification said that after receiving the special order from the ruling party, the commander "indiscreetly" complained that "military granaries are facing more serious problems than the food [shortage] issue facing the people."
He also reportedly said: "If they're going to squeeze us while remaining ignorant of the situation in lower-level rear areas, from where on earth are we going to produce all that rice, not sand from the river bed?"
By criticising Kim's supposedly insufficient sense of reality, he basically became a "sectarian" in the view of the authorities. By punishing cadres, Kim seemingly intends to turn attention away from his own loss of face in ordering "three months of food provisions" without first ascertaining the state of military food stocks, reported Asia Times.
DailyNK in an earlier article had reported that "food shops recently established by the North Korean government to control the supply and price of rice have little or no rice to sell." Those shops were supposed to sell the rice from the military storehouses.
"We know and have seen reporting on North Korea's dire food situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. While we can't pinpoint Pyongyang's motivation for restoring the communication lines to the food situation, it's certainly a possibility," analyst Soo Kim of the California-based Rand Corporation's told Radio Free Asia (RFA), cited Asia Times.
"Kim's foolish pride is a hindrance to directly appealing for international aid. But he knows that the current South Korean government is unlikely to turn a blind eye to the North's humanitarian situation. By opening the door to 'communication' with Seoul, Kim may be indirectly appealing for assistance from the South," she said.