North Korean embassy employee defects to South Korea

This article was last updated on July 16, 2024

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North Korean embassy employee defects to South Korea

A North Korean who worked at the embassy in Cuba has defected to South Korea. He said this in an interview with the South Korean news website ‘Chosun Daily’.

Ri Il-gyu worked at the North Korean embassy in Cuba between 2011 and the end of 2023. He defected eight months ago after Pyongyang denied him medical treatment in Mexico that is not available in Cuba. In addition, he believes his work was not assessed fairly.

In 2011, Ri moved with his family to Cuba, which is one of North Korea’s oldest allies. He worked at the embassy as a political advisor and wanted to start a North Korean restaurant in Cuba. To open this restaurant, he had to pay a bribe to a high-ranking official of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, but because he had no money he asked for a deferral of payment. Since then his work has been poorly reviewed.

After falling ill and having his request denied to be treated in Mexico, he decided to defect to South Korea.

Six hours before departure

He only told his wife and children about the planned move six hours before leaving for South Korea, without telling them which country they would be moving to. He does not want to tell the news site how his flight to South Korea was successful, because Pyongyang would then know how other North Koreans could also defect to South Korea.

It is more common for North Koreans and diplomats to leave to South Korea. In 2016, a senior diplomat at the embassy in London managed to defect to South Korea. He was born in 2020 chosen in the South Korean parliament. With his political party he wants, among other things, to improve the position of North Koreans in South Korea.