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A top North Korean colonel has been executed in front of his own men for allegedly embezzling state reserve grain.

The shooting left his officers 'deeply shaken', a Daily NK source in South Pyongan province said, adding: 'Their faces turned pale. They left without making eye contact with each other.'

Earlier in July, authorities arrested the senior colonel from a coastal guard unit based in Nampo for allegedly stealing large amounts of the military’s reserve grain.

'He was executed by firing squad on July 12 in front of members of his unit,' the source said.

He was accused of secretly stealing several dozen tonnes of grain from a warehouse under his own command.

He then allegedly attempted to transport it by vehicle to Nampo port, before officials guarding the warehouse spotted him first and reported the incident.

The senior colonel was then arrested and taken to the Military Security Bureau for questioning.

He was referred to the court martial and received the maximum sentence - execution - for stealing reserve grain amid a domestic food crisis.

[File photo] Local residents in North Korea are sometimes forced to watch gruesome public executions, which are used as a warning against trying to escape the hermit kingdom

Following the execution at a shooting range near Nampo, the party’s central leadership and the military’s General Political Bureau are believed to have delivered warnings vowing to root out corruption in the armed forces.

Fear among senior military officials has reportedly reached new heights as a result, Daily NK claimed.

Special security measures have been put in place around the Nampo port area, where an inspection team is now overseeing every vessel's entry and exit as well as all the cargo loading, the source said.

Daily life has become increasingly difficult for civilians living in the surrounding area due to the scrutiny on the routine transportation of supplies such as construction materials and seafood.

Over 45 per cent of North Korea's population, 11.8 million people, are undernourished, the United Nations found in March 2025.

'The government has shifted from accommodating informal markets to establishing a state-monopoly selling of staple food,' Elizabeth Salmón, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, wrote.

'Under the strict border shutdowns since early 2020, many cannot afford food, yet the government’s public distribution system is discriminatory and irregular.

'Only those loyal to the leadership receive regular public distribution.'

The petty reasons why Kim Jong Un orders executions in North Korea have previously been laid bare in harrowing reports.

A tape showing a public shaming session in a large auditorium, where scores of young North Koreans are lined up in front of military men and berated for their 'crimes'

Pictured: A video from inside North Korea shows two teenagers being publicly sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching Korean TV dramas

Citizens in the secretive dictatorship have been killed for crimes as minor as listening to pop music or even dozing off in the Supreme leader's presence.

A farm manager was also executed after all the baby terrapins at a state-run facility died, with sources saying he was shot dead shortly after Kim berated officials during a visit.

In some of the most shocking cases, inmates were killed in secret 'indoor executions' using blunt weapons, while others were shot by firing squads.

Among the most notorious cases, North Korea's Defence Minister Hyon Yong-chol was executed for showing disloyalty, according to South Korea's spy agency.

MPs were told he was killed in 2015 by anti-aircraft fire in front of hundreds after falling asleep during an event attended by Kim and failing to carry out orders.

A senior military officer was also said to have been executed.

Elsewhere, the death penalty has been imposed for something as simple as making a phone call to South Korea.

According to testimony reported by Daily NK, a 49-year-old stage lighting engineer was executed after being caught contacting someone across the border, with his death used as a warning to others. His family was then imprisoned.

Other cases highlight the regime's sweeping crackdown on culture and religion.

The head of the Unhasu Orchestra - a group that once performed internationally - was arrested and executed for allegedly violating pornography laws.

A 33-year-old Christian woman, Ri Hyon Ok, was publicly executed for distributing the Bible, with her family sent to a political prison camp the following day, according to activist groups.

And new testimony gathered by Amnesty International suggests even schoolchildren are being executed, jailed or publicly humiliated for watching South Korean TV or listening to K-pop.

Defectors said consuming hugely popular dramas such as Crash Landing on You, Descendants of the Sun or Squid Game can bring the harshest punishments, including death, particularly for those without money or connections.