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Jo Song-gil, the North Korean chargé d'affaires to Italy who went into hiding in November 2018, at an event in Treviso, Italy, in March 2018. (Yonhap News)

Jo Song-gil, 44, the North Korean chargé d'affaires to Italy who went into hiding in November 2018, has been residing in South Korea for the past year, it has been confirmed. The official confirmation of a high-ranking North Korean official seeking asylum in South Korea is expected to have a major impact on inter-Korean relations.

Ha Tae-keung, a lawmaker with the main opposition People Power Party who sits on the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, posted on his Facebook page that Jo “entered South Korea in July of last year and that authorities appear to be providing him asylum” on Oct. 6.

Additionally, Jeon Hae-cheol, chair of the National Assembly's intelligence committee, told reporters that "He [Jo] had repeatedly expressed his wish to come to South Korea."

Jo became North Korea’s acting ambassador to Italy when then Ambassador Moon Jong-nam was expelled from the European Union following Pyongyang’s sixth round of nuclear tests in September 2017. He disappeared before finishing his term, however, in November 2018, and his precise whereabouts remained unknown for the following two years. The reasons behind Jo’s disappearance weren’t revealed at the time, but observers speculated that he was seeking asylum in a country other than South Korea under the protection of Italy or another foreign government. In February 2019, the Italian Foreign Ministry officially confirmed that Jo’s underage daughter had been repatriated to North Korea.

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter

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