South Korea's spy agency- the National Intelligence Service (NIS)- on Tuesday (July 16) said that a senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba fled to South Korea, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to the South since 2016.

South Korea's spy agency- the National Intelligence Service (NIS)- on Tuesday (July 16) said that a senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba fled to South Korea, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to the South since 2016. According to the NIS, media reports on the defection of a North Korean counsellor of political affairs in Cuba were true. The spy agency refused to provide further details. Citing South Korean media, a report by the news agency Associated Press on Tuesday said that the diplomat, identified as Ri Il Kyu, fled to South Korea with his wife and children in November last year. Why the defection? Speaking to local media, Ri said he decided to defect to the South because of what he called disillusionment with North Korea’s political system, an unfair job evaluation by Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, and the ministry’s disapproval of his hopes to visit Mexico to treat his neural damage. Also read | North Korea executed man in 2022 for watching, sharing South Korean films & music: Report Ri added that hospitals in Cuba didn’t have the necessary medical equipment to treat his health problem due to international sanctions. The diplomat's defection came just months before Cuba and South Korea established diplomatic ties in February. A report by Chosun Ilbo newspaper said that Ri had been engaged in efforts to block Cuba from opening diplomatic ties with South Korea until his defection. An unusual move Seoul has said that the number of highly educated North Koreans with professional jobs escaping to South Korea has steadily increased in recent years. But it was unusual for a member of the North’s ruling elite to come to South Korea. Before Ri, Tae Yongho, then a minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, defected to South Korea in 2016. Tae told reporters he decided to flee because he didn’t want his children to live “miserable” lives in North Korea. Tae said another reason for his defection was that he fell into despair after watching North Korean leader Kim Jong Un execute officials and pursue the development of nuclear weapons. (With inputs from agencies)

North Korean diplomat in Cuba flees to South Korea in highest-ranking envoy defection since 2016

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North Korean diplomat in Cuba flees to South Korea in highest-ranking envoy defection since 2016