A North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, a conceivable gamble for premier Kim

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s undercover agents agency said Tuesday that a senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba has fled to South Korea, the latest defection by members of the North’s ruling elite. Possibly harmed to leader Kim Jong Un. Try to strengthen your management.

The Nationwide Wisdom Carrier said in media reports on the defection of one North Korea Advisors on political views in Cuba have remained true. A brief comment through the NIS Crowd Affairs office provided negative additional details.

South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported last Tuesday that diplomat Ri Il Kyu had fled South Korea with his wife and children in November.

The Chosun Ilbo quoted Ri as telling the newspaper in an interview that he had taken up a state of weakness as a result of disillusionment with North Korea’s political system, an unfair task analysis by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry, and his rejection by the ministry. He is expected to speak to Mexico regarding his nerve injury. He said Cuban hospices did not have critical diagnostic equipment to assess their fitness status due to global sanctions.

Alternative South Korean media outlets published separate reviews on Tuesday.

North Korea did not immediately respond to South Korea’s announcement of Ri’s defection. North Korea has so far expressed anger over some high-profile defections, accusing South Korea of ​​kidnapping or undermining its electorate. It also described some defectors as traitors or criminals who had fled to escape punishment.

Ri defected even before this South Korea and Cuba established diplomatic relations In February, a tournament that experts say is likely a political gamble for North Korea, whose diplomatic base depends largely on a small collection of Cold War-era allies such as Cuba.

The Chosun document states that Ri was sought in efforts to prevent Cuba from opening diplomatic relations with South Korea until his defection. The document says Ri received Kim Jong Un’s favor for his role in negotiations with Panama that resulted in a boat being detained in 2013 for allegedly carrying contraband such as missiles and fighter jet parts. get left. The document said Ri was the third secretary of the North Korean embassy in Cuba.

About 34,000 North Koreans have moved to South Korea to escape the financial crisis and political repression, particularly in the last 1990s. Most of them are women from poor northern areas. However, the number of highly skilled North Koreans with professional jobs fleeing to South Korea has recently increased steadily.

According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, in 2023, about 1 in 10 North Koreans classified as members of the country’s elite class settled in South Korea – a higher figure than in the recent past. Ministry officials have said the increase in high-level defection is likely due to North Korea’s pandemic-related financial difficulties And efforts are being made to strengthen it to keep an eye on its population. those who needed Stay out of the country for longer periods of time due to COVID-19 restrictions Have been exposed to open international cultures for a long time.

“This high-level defection is an insult to North Korea, as Ri played a key role in representing Pyongyang’s interests in Havana,” said Leif-Eric Easley, coach of global research at Ewha Womans College in Seoul.

Easley said, “There is no doubt that the Kim regime is taking steps to make it more difficult for diplomats abroad to defect, but increased repression is likely to further isolate Pyongyang and indeed further “This could lead to more defection.”

Moon Seong Mook, an expert at the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Techniques, said news of high-level defections like Ri’s would spread to North Korean diplomats and others, potentially causing significant damage to Kim – although not will be. The most likely possibility is that the regime will manage to be quickly toppled at some point.

Some North Korean tracking teams question Kim’s hold on energy. However, witnesses say Kim Jong Un is struggling with financial difficulties, the influence of South Korean pop culture and growing US-South Korean military cooperation.

The most high-profile defection in recent times occurred in 2016, when tae yonghoAfter this, a minister from the North Korean Embassy in London reached South Korea. He said he made up his mind to flee because he did not want his children to live a “miserable” life in North Korea because he was in “despair” over Kim’s assassination of officials and pursuit of nuclear weapons.

North Korea has He is known as “human scum” And accused them of embezzling government cash and committing alternative crimes. Tae was once elected to the Parliament of South Korea in 2020.

In 2019, Acting Ambassador of North Korea to Italy, Jo Music Gil, arrived in South Korea. Additionally in 2019, Acting Ambassador of North Korea to Kuwait Came to South Korea with his people.

In recent months, tensions have increased greatly on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea releases balloons carrying garbage South Korea and its continued missile assessments. North Korea says its balloon campaign was a tit-for-tat action against South Korean activists using their balloons to spread political leaflets.

On Tuesday, Kim’s sister and senior figure Kim Yo Jong warned of unspecified “terrible” consequences for South Korea, saying leaflets sent by South Korea had again been found in the North. He issued a unique blackmail on Sunday. South Korea responded to North Korea’s previous balloon activities by Postponing the stress-reducing trade of 2018 With North Korea.