High-ranking N Korea diplomat in Cuba defects to South

SEOUL

A high-ranking North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba defected to South Korea last November, just months before Seoul and Havana established diplomatic ties, a report said Tuesday.

North Korean diplomat Ri Il Kyu had been responsible for political affairs at Pyongyang's embassy in Cuba since 2019, tasked specifically "with obstructing the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba," the Chosun Daily reported.

Ri defected to South Korea with his wife and children in early November, the report said, making him the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat known to have defected since Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to Britain, in 2016.

Seoul's Unification Ministry has previously flagged a rising number of defections by North Korean elites, which they said made up around 10 of the 196 defections in 2023, the highest in years.

Around three months after Ri's reported defection, Seoul and Havana, which is one of Pyongyang's oldest allies and a fellow communist state, announced they were establishing diplomatic ties.

In an exclusive interview with South Korea's Chosun Daily, Ri said he decided to defect after Pyongyang rejected his request to seek medical treatment in Mexico after an injury, even though he could not receive the necessary treatment in Cuba due to a lack of specialist equipment.