High-Ranking North Korea Diplomat Flees To South Korea

• 17.07.2024, 11:01

He speaks about the mood in North Korea.

A North Korean diplomat defected from Cuba to South Korea in November. According to The Guardian, the National Intelligence Service of South Korea confirmed the report of the Chosun Ilbo newspaper about the desertion of the political adviser of the DPRK Embassy in Cuba. One of his tasks was to prevent the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba.

52-year-old Ri Il-kyu has been working for North Korea's foreign ministry since 1999. He has Kim Jong-un's gratitude for successfully negotiating with Panama to lift the detention of a ship caught transporting weapons from Cuba in 2013.

“Every North Korean at least once thinks about life in South Korea. Disappointment in the North Korean regime and a bleak future made me think about desertion. In fact, the North Koreans crave reunification even more than the South Koreans.

Everyone believes that reunification is the only way to ensure a better future for their children. Today, the regime of Kim Jong-un has brutally destroyed even the slightest hope left to the people," he said in an interview with the newspaper.