A senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South in November Korea, a South Korean newspaper reported today, and became the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea since 2016, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Before fleeing to South Korea, Ri Il-kyu, 52, was a counselor at the North Korean embassy in Cuba, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an interview with Ri.
Among Rhee's tasks at the embassy was to block the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and old ally Cuba, the paper reported. In February, the two countries established diplomatic relations.
It often takes months before details of North Korean defections become public, with defectors having to be approved by authorities in Seoul and undergo a training course on South Korean lifestyle and social order.
Ri joined North Korea's foreign ministry in 1999 and was praised by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for successfully negotiating with Panama to lift the detention of a North Korean ship caught carrying weapons from Cuba in 2013, reports " ;Chosun Ilbo".
He told the newspaper that he decided to defect because of the disillusionment with the regime and the unfair evaluation of his work.
The last such high-profile defection to South Korea was in 2016 by Tae Yong-ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador to the UK.
South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, declined to confirm the information, citing confidentiality issues.