DHAKA: A senior North Korean diplomat based in London has defected to South Korea, becoming one of the highest Northern officials to do so.

The South Korean government said, reports Al Jazeera.

Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, has arrived in South Korea with his family and is under the protection of the South Korean government, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on Wednesday.

Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee said Thae told South Korean officials that he decided to defect because of his disgust with the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Thae “aspired for freedom in South Korea, and thought about his children’s future”, Jeong was quoted by Korea Times as saying.

Thae was the second-highest official in North Korea’s embassy, and is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but resettled in the United States.

Jeong refused to give further details about Thae’s defection, citing possible diplomatic problems with a concerned country he did not identify.

Britain’s foreign office also declined to comment.

BDST: 2125 HRS, AUG 17, 2016
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