North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South with his family, says Seoul

Ri's defection is the latest in a series of defections by North Korean diplomats in South Korea in recent years

Seoul: South Korea’s spy agency said on Tuesday that a North Korea diplomat based in Cuba has defected to South Korea. The National Intelligence Service said that media reports on the defection of a North Korean counsellor of political affairs in Cuba are true. But it gave no further details.

South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier on Tuesday that the North Korean diplomat, named Ri Il Kyu, fled to South Korea with his wife and children in November last year.

---

Ri’s defection is the latest in a series of defections by North Korean diplomats in South Korea in recent years. The Chosun Ilbo report cited Ri as telling the newspaper that he had decided to defect because of disillusionment with North Korea’s political system.

But Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean unidentified government source, reported that Ri decided to flee after conflicts with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials about his job evaluations.

South Korea’s unification and Foreign Ministries said they couldn’t confirm reports about Ri’s defection. About 34,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea to avoid economic hardships and political suppression since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.