Highest-ranking North Korean diplomat ever publicly defects to South Korea

Posted on : 2016-08-18 17:14 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Minister in N. Korean embassy in London reportedly had concerns about his children ahead of scheduled return to Pyongyang
 
Thae Yong-ho (right) accompanies Kim Jong-chol
Thae Yong-ho (right) accompanies Kim Jong-chol

As of the morning of Aug. 17, the South Korean government had refused to confirm reports that Thae Yong-ho, a minister-level official at the North Korean Embassy in London, was seeking asylum. But during an emergency briefing at 7 pm of the same day, the government announced that Thae, along with his wife and children, had entered South Korea.

Since Aug. 16, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and Unification Ministry had maintained that they could not confirm any reports about Thae seeking asylum, citing the government’s policy about North Korean defectors.

The South Korean government particularly emphasized that Thae was a “high-ranking diplomat” and that he was “sick and tired of the Pyongyang regime.”

“Thae is the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat that has defected to date,” said Unification Ministry Spokesperson Jeong Joon-hee during the briefing. “Thae was the second-ranking diplomat at the North Korean Embassy to the UK after Ambassador Hyun Hak-bong.”

Actually, Jong Sung-il defected and obtained asylum in the US in 1997 while serving as the North Korean ambassador to Egypt. North Korean diplomats working in the Congo and Zambia in the mid- and late 1990s defected to South Korea as well.

Given these circumstances, it would be more accurate to say that Thae is the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat whose defection to South Korea was made public.

“In regard to Thae’s motivations for defecting, I am told that he mentioned being sick and tired of the Kim Jong-un regime, admiring the civil liberties of South Korean society and being concerned about his children and the future,” Jeong said.

When asked why the government had reversed its policy about announcing the defection in the space of a single day, Jeong said, “The announcement was made in order to verify the facts since [Thae and his family] had already entered South Korea and since the news was being widely reported in the media.”

Jeong declined to answer any questions about how or when the defectors entered the country and about their family relationships. “I cannot provide that information because it might put people into danger,” Jeong said.

One of the main reasons that the government held an emergency briefing on the evening of Aug. 17 to announce Thae’s defection was to support its argument that the North Korean regime is in trouble.

Ever since the government’s unprecedented announcement of the group defection of a manager and waitresses from a North Korean restaurant in Ningbo, China in early April, it has continued to claim that there has been a string of defections from the North Korean elite and upper class.

Jeong’s remark on Wednesday that “there is a growing sense in the North Korean core group that the Kim Jong-un system is hopeless and that the Pyongyang regime is running out of options” clearly reveals the government’s intention.

“Our tentative conclusion is that the internal cohesiveness of the ruling class is weakening,” Jeong said. 

 older brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
older brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
Do sanctions undermine Pyongyang and lead to more defections?

The South Korean government is placing particular emphasis on the fact that the increase in defectors shows the effectiveness of sanctions against North Korea.

“Since the UN Security Council put into place tough sanctions against North Korea following its fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch earlier this year, the North Korean elite working overseas have reportedly been wavering,” one South Korean government official said.

But there are doubts that UN Security Council sanctions or the additional sanctions of individual governments are directly connected to defections.

“It’s possible for the government to cause the number of defectors to increase whenever it wants to. Defectors are on waiting lists in some Southeast Asian countries, and the procedure typically takes one month at the fastest. But it wouldn‘t be hard for embassies to increase the numbers by speeding up the procedure,” said a source at one defector organization.

“These defectors usually left North Korea last year or the year before at the latest, so you couldn’t call this the result of the sanctions,” the source said. 

Thae likely had personal reasons for leaving, too

Some think that Thae, who is regarded as one of the highest ranking elites in North Korea, may have sought asylum for reasons that are unrelated to the sanctions or to the regime. This summer, Thae was reportedly supposed to finish his assignment and return to Pyongyang.

“Thae was in charge of bookkeeping and procurement during the 10 years he worked at the North Korean Embassy in London, and he was supposed to return to Pyongyang before long,” said a source who is knowledgeable about North Korea. “He was supposed to hand over his responsibilities to his successor, but apparently he defected because of a financial incident.”

“What I’ve heard is that Thae was in a desperate situation and ran off with a considerable amount of money. North Korean embassies generally keep a lot of cash on hand since they can’t use bank accounts, which frequently leads to such incidents,” the source said.

Experts believe that Thae’s concerns about his children had a major impact on his decision to defect. Thae reportedly has at least two sons.

According to a BBC report, Thae’s oldest son has an economics degree related to public health from a British university. His youngest son attended a state school and was an active participant in a tennis club, the BBC said.

Louis Prior, 19, who was attending the same school as Thae’s youngest son, told the Guardian that Thae’s son had disappeared in the middle of last month.

Thae‘s youngest son was born in Denmark and returned to North Korea before going to the UK with his family four years ago. He had been planning to study mathematics and computer science at Imperial College, Prior said.

“Thae’s sons had spent about 10 years overseas, and it might have been difficult for them to go back to Pyongyang,” one expert on defector issues said.

During the emergency briefing on Wednesday, Jeong, the Unification Ministry spokesperson, also mentioned that the issues of Thae’s children and the future were among his reasons for defecting. 

Who is Thae Yong-ho?

Thae’s defection to South Korea will likely come as a severe shock to North Korea. Thae was thought to be one of the top experts on western Europe in North Korea’s Foreign Ministry. He studied in Denmark and started his career as a diplomat with a post at North Korea’s Embassy to Denmark in 1993, followed by assignments in Sweden and the UK.

In the UK, Thae’s primary job was to argue that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was being misrepresented by the British media and misunderstood by the British public, the BBC reported. Along with finance and procurement, Thae’s primary responsibilities were reportedly in consular affairs and public relations.

When Kim Jong-chul, Kim Jong-un’s older brother, secretly visited the UK last year to see an Eric Clapton concert, Thae accompanied him to the concert venue in London.

By Kim Jin-cheol and Cho Ki-won, staff reporters

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

 

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