Report: North Korean Diplomat Defected to South Korea

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Facts

  • South Korea's National Intelligence Service has reported that a former North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea. He has been identified by South Korean media as Ri Il Gyu, who worked in Cuba for nine years before leaving his job in November 2023.1
  • In an interview with South Korean news outlet Chosun Ilbo, Ri, 52, said he enrolled in the North's Foreign Ministry in 1999. He, among the few other diplomats who have been able to defect, chose to go straight to the South to avoid the tight security imposed by Pyongyang.2
  • Ri was a member of Kim Jong Un's diplomatic team that met with former US Pres. Donald Trump twice. He told the newspaper that two other diplomats, Ri Yong-ho and Han Song-ryol, disappeared after those summits.3
  • Ri, who left Cuba before South Korea formed diplomatic ties with the Caribbean country, said he chose to defect after the Foreign Ministry disapproved of his wish to travel to Mexico to obtain neurological medical care that Cuba lacked.4
  • Ri further added that his parents and in-laws were killed, likely due to his defection. He said the government often punishes defectors by holding them hostage or putting them in prison.2
  • According to South Korea, numerous members of the North Korean 'elite' have defected to the South, with a reported '10 former high-ranking North Korean government officials' defecting in 2023.1

Sources: 1NK News, 2Wsj, 3New York Times and 4NBC.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Koreatimes. These defections shouldn't be a surprise since younger generations of North Koreans are beginning to prioritize economic progress over loyalty to the Kim regime. By going south, they find freedom and prosperity. This could lead to reunification if the South successfully assimilates these defectors into their economy and culture.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Masspeaceaction. Since the end of World War II, South Korea has been a vassal state of the American empire, unwilling to negotiate reunification peacefully. Both sides of the border want to come together, but in order to do so Washington needs to lift its hold on the region and allow sovereign countries to pursue their own policies.

Predictions