North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho was among Pyongyang’s ‘best and brightest’
According to South Korean media reports, both Thae and his wife come from blue-blooded North Korean revolutionary stock
A privileged background and powerful connections with the ruling elite back in Pyongyang appear to have provided the springboard for North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho’s successful defection to South Korea, analysts said on Thursday.
Thae, the number two at the North Korean embassy in Britain, is one of the highest-ranking diplomats ever to defect to the South – gifting Seoul a major propaganda coup at a time of rising tension on the divided Korean peninsula.
Any defection by a ranking member of an overseas North Korean mission would make waves, but London is considered a particularly prestigious posting that puts Thae’s move on a whole different level.
“The embassy in London is reserved only for some of the foreign ministry’s top officials,” said Victor Cha, director of Asian studies for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Previous ambassadors to Britain include North Korea’s recently appointed foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho.
Thae’s defection represents the flight of some of the North’s best and brightest – their diplomatic cream of the crop
“In this regard, Thae’s defection represents the flight of some of the North’s best and brightest – their diplomatic cream of the crop,” Cha said.