North Korean diplomat who vanished in 2018 defected to South: lawmakers

Lawmaker Jeon Hae-cheol said Jo Song-gil, North Korea’s former acting ambassador to Italy, came to the South after expressing wishes to resettle there
If confirmed, Jo would be the highest-level official from the North to defect to South Korea since 1997

North Korea

Associated Press

Published: 5:37pm, 7 Oct 2020

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A senior diplomat from North Korea who vanished in Italy in 2018 lives in South Korea under government protection, lawmakers said Wednesday.

If confirmed, Jo Song-gil, North Korea’s former acting ambassador to Italy, would be the highest-level official to defect to rival South Korea since the 1997 arrival of Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers’ Party official who once tutored leader Kim Jong-un’s father, late leader Kim Jong-il.

South Korea’s spy agency had earlier told lawmakers that Jo left his official residence in Rome with his wife in November 2018 and was under protection at an unspecified location outside the European country.

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Lawmaker Ha Tae-keung, a member of the intelligence committee in the National Assembly, wrote on Facebook that Jo arrived in South Korea in July 2019 and is under the protection of the South Korean government.

Ha said he was confirming Jo’s arrival on behalf of the committee to prevent a media frenzy, after a South Korean TV station reported about his defection on Tuesday evening. Ha said the committee decided not to provide further details about Jo for his safety.

Jo Song-gil, North Korea’s former acting ambassador to Italy, vanished in late 2018. Photo: Parish of Farra di Soligo via AP

Jeon Hae-cheol, the committee’s chairman, told reporters later on Wednesday that Jo came to South Korea voluntarily after expressing wishes to resettle here several times. Jeon said Jo did not want his arrival to be publicised because of worries about relatives in North Korea, according to Jeon’s office.

Neither lawmaker said how they obtained the information. It is likely that they were briefed about Jo by the National Intelligence Service, the country’s main spy agency, as committee members routinely meet NIS officers for discussions on North Korea.

The NIS said it was checking reports about Jo’s arrival. South Korea’s foreign and unification ministries said they could not confirm the reports.

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Before Jo, Thae Yong-ho, a former minister at the North Korean embassy in London, was the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. He went to Seoul in 2016 and was elected to the National Assemby this year.

Thae said he decided to defect because he did not want his children to live “miserable” lives in North Korea and he was disappointed with Kim Jong-un.

Thae issued a statement urging media outlets to refrain from exposing too much about Jo, citing worries about a possible reprisal against his daughter in North Korea.

The reason for Jo’s departure from his Rome residence is not known. North Korea’s state media has not mentioned his possible defection.

About 33,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the late 1990s to avoid political suppression and poverty in the North.

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