North Korea Suffers Another High-Level Defection: Seoul

South Korea's spy agency said Tuesday that a senior North Korea diplomat based in Cuba has fled to South Korea, the latest defection by a member of the North's elite, reports the AP. The National Intelligence Service confirmed the defection of a North Korean counselor of political affairs in Cuba. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier that diplomat Ri Il Kyu fled to South Korea with his wife and children in November. Ri explained in an interview that he decided to defect 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.

North Korea didn't immediately respond to Ri's defection. Ri defected before South Korea and Cuba established diplomatic ties in February, an event that experts say likely posed a political blow to North Korea, whose diplomatic footing is largely dependent on a small number of Cold War-era allies like Cuba. The Chosun report said Ri had been engaged in efforts to block Cuba from opening diplomatic ties with South Korea until his defection. "This high-level defection adds insult to injury for North Korea, as Ri was instrumental in representing Pyongyang's interests in Havana," said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

In 2023, about 10 North Koreans categorized as members of the country's elite resettled in South Korea—more than in recent years, according South Korea's Unification Ministry. Ministry officials have said that an increase in high-level defections were likely caused by North Korea's pandemic-related economic difficulties and its pushes to reinforce state control of its people. "The Kim regime is no doubt taking measures to make it more difficult for diplomats overseas to defect, but increased repression is likely to further isolate Pyongyang and may actually encourage more defections," said Easley. (More North Korea stories.)