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A high-ranking military officer has been executed after Kim Jong-un reportedly discovered he was dishing out extra food to colleagues.

Kim Jong-un is said to have been 'irate' when he got wind Lieutenant General Hyon Ju Song had been giving additional rice and corn rations to his troop and their families.

Song, 56, is also alleged to have given instructions for extra fuel to handed out, as well as telling colleagues: ‘We no longer have to suffer and tighten our belts to make rockets or nuclear weapons.’

When this was discovered by Kim, he vowed 'ideological poisoning should be nipped in the bud', according to Daily NK.

(Image: AFP)

The top army officer's comments and actions were seen as abuse of authority, profiting the enemy, and anti-Party acts, and he was found guilty of these charges.

Song was arrested after making the unguarded comments during a visit to one of the regime’s most important facilities as he checked oil supplies.

Sources added that Song, serving in the Korean People’s Army, was publicly executed after being hit by a rain of 90 bullets - fired by nine military death-row convicts.

He was shot at the firing range of the Kang Kon Military Academy located in the Sunan District of the capital Pyongyang following a trial at the end of April.

(Image: REUTERS)

A source told Daily NK: “He [Song] gave instructions to send out 1 ton of fuel, 580 kg of rice, and 750 kg of corn to military officers at the Launching Station and their families.

"This was considered an anti-Party act violating the Ten Principles for the Establishment of the Party's One Ideology System."

In full, Song was held responsible for failing to maintain secrecy regarding the affairs of the Party, military, and government institutions, displaying generosity by distributing unauthorized handouts, and misrepresenting the ideology of the Party.