SEOUL: A senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea in November along with his wife and child, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to the South since 2016, South Korean media reported on Tuesday.
Ri Il Kyu, 52, formerly a counsellor at the North Korean embassy in Cuba, disclosed his defection to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Yonhap News Agency also confirmed the defection, citing an anonymous government source.
The South’s unification ministry, responsible for inter-Korean affairs, declined to comment on the reports, citing privacy concerns.
Ri’s responsibilities at the embassy included preventing North Korea’s rival, South Korea, from establishing diplomatic ties with Cuba. Despite his efforts, South Korea and Cuba established diplomatic relations in February.
Ri revealed that he orchestrated his escape by purchasing flight tickets and informing his wife and child of his decision just six hours before the defection. “I didn’t mention South Korea, but said, let’s live abroad,” he explained.
Defectors from North Korea face severe punishments, including death if caught, according to human rights groups and successful defectors. Strict border controls and high broker fees have led to a decrease in the number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea in recent years.
Last year, only 196 North Korean defectors came to Seoul, down from around 2,700 a decade ago. Most recent defectors, like Ri, have lived overseas for extended periods, human rights activists note.
Details of North Korean defections often emerge months later due to the need for defectors to be cleared by authorities and undergo educational courses about South Korean society and systems.
Ri joined North Korea’s foreign ministry in 1999 and received commendation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for negotiating the release of a North Korean ship detained in Panama for carrying arms from Cuba in 2013.
He stated that his decision to defect stemmed from disillusionment with the regime and the unfair evaluation of his work. His final decision was influenced by the denial of his request to travel to Mexico for medical treatment last year. He noted that his parents and parents-in-law, who might face reprisals for his defection, had passed away.
The last high-profile defection to the South was that of Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, in 2016. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Tae welcomed Ri, saying, “I hope that all former North Korean diplomats will join forces and work hard for the unification movement to realize the dream of North Korean officials and people to have their children live freely in South Korea.” Tae also noted that Ri was a former rival in table tennis games at the foreign ministry.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol recently pledged better financial support for North Korean defectors and tax incentives for companies hiring them during the inaugural North Korean Defectors’ Day ceremony.
North Korea, under the burden of sanctions, shut down some embassies last year to “rearrange its diplomatic capacity efficiently,” according to South Korean reports. Despite these closures, North Korea maintains an embassy in Cuba, although its ambassador returned home in March, media reports indicated.
