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A high-profile North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba has defected to the South, Seoul’s spy agency has confirmed to the BBC.
The political counselor is believed to be the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to South Korea since 2016.
The diplomat defected in November, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said.
Details about North Koreans defections often take months to come to light as the defectors must take courses on South Korean society before they are formally integrated.
South Korean media reports say the defector was a counsellor responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba. The NIS has not confirmed this to the BBC.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said it was able to interview the diplomat, whom it identified as 52-year-old Ri Il Kyu.
It said the diplomat defected because of “disillusionment with the regime and unfair evaluation of his work”.
The defection comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two Koreas.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has formally abandoned the goal of reunification with with the South and also recently branded Seoul as “Enemy number One” – a dramatic turnaround from just six years ago when he formally met then South Korean Leader Moon Jae In.
Since then, there has been an upping of rhetoric on both sides of the border.
The two countries floated propaganda balloons along their border towns, with those from the North containing trash and parasites.
And earlier in June, Pyongyang claimed to have test-fired an advanced nuclear warhead missile.
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