Senior North Korean Diplomat Defected To South While In Cuba

A North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, becoming the highest ranking envoy from his country to escape to the south since 2016.

Without giving details the National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s spy agency, confirmed a report by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, which said that a diplomat responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba had defected.

The defector, Ri Il-kyu, had the task of blocking South Korea and Cuba from forging diplomatic ties, the newspaper reported . In February, the two countries established diplomatic relations.

Details of defections from North Korea often take months to come to light, with defectors needing to be cleared by authorities and going through a course of education about South Korean society and systems. Ri had entered North Korea’s foreign ministry in 1999 and received a commendation from the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, for successfully negotiating with Panama to lift the detention of a North Korean ship caught carrying arms from Cuba in 2013, the Chosun said.