Seoul
Reports on Tuesday said a senior North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea last November, just months before Seoul and Havana established diplomatic ties.
According to the Chosun Ilbo, North Korean diplomat Ri Il-gyu has been in charge of political affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba since 2019, and was specifically tasked with “obstructing the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba.”
Ri reportedly defected to South Korea with his wife and children in early November, becoming the highest-ranking diplomat to defect from North Korea since Thae Yong-ho, then ambassador to the UK, in 2016.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry has previously warned that the number of defectors from North Korea’s elite is on the rise, saying they would account for around 10 of the 196 defections in 2023, the highest number in recent years.
About three months after news of Ri’s defection broke, Seoul and Havana, a fellow communist state and one of Pyongyang’s oldest allies, announced they would establish diplomatic ties.
In an exclusive interview with South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, Ri said he decided to defect after North Korea rejected his request to seek treatment in Mexico after he was injured, even though he was unable to receive the treatment he needed in Cuba due to a lack of specialized facilities.
