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By Micah McCartney
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A North Korean diplomat has defected to the South in a public relations blow to the Kim Jong Un regime, it has emerged.
Ri Il Kyu, formerly a political counselor at Pyongyang's embassy in Cuba, defected in November—becoming the highest-level North Korean official to do so since 2016, when multiple North Korean government officials abandoned their government.
"My disgust with the North Korean system, my pessimism about the bleak future and my desire to escape from this society were the starting points that made me think about defecting from North Korea," said Ri in an exclusive interview with South Korean news outlet The Chosun Daily published Tuesday, when the defection became public.
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The North Korean embassy in China and the South Korean embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
High-level defectors such as Ri undermine the image of stability the North Korean government seeks to project, suggesting discontent and systemic weaknesses. These defectors' firsthand accounts also shed light not only on the oppressive conditions in the hermit kingdom but also valuable insights into the inner workings of Kim's circle.
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Ri said that ultimately, he began seriously considering defection because his work was undervalued by North Korean Foreign Ministry leadership, and claimed that his refusal to pay a bribe to the deputy director of the Cuban mission led to unfair evaluations.
The last straw was when Ri says he was denied permission to visit Mexico to have nerve damage related to a spine injury treated. "I was enraged and became convinced that my decision to leave North Korea was correct. The passing of my parents and parents-in-law, who proudly displayed 'Kim Jong Un commendations' in their living rooms, also contributed to my decision," he said.
To avoid Pyongyang preventing other defectors from following in his footsteps, Ri declined to explain how he and his family managed to leave the country despite the embassy holding on to employees' passports.
"The one hour I waited at the airport gate felt like years. For the first time, I prayed earnestly for God to protect my family, understanding why people believe in religion," he said of their escape to South Korea.
Ri's function at the diplomatic mission was to work against the normalization of South Korea's ties with Cuba.
The U.S. ally established diplomatic ties with Cuba in February. Cuba's socialist government and North Korea have enjoyed close ties since the Cold War, sharing a similar ideology and decades of enmity with the United States.
In 2016 Thae Yong-ho, a former deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, fled to South Korea with his family. He went on to become the first North Korean to win a seat in the South's parliament four years later and has been a vocal critic of his former government.
Also that year, a North Korean spy with the country's feared Ministry of State Security, Lee Chul-eun, defected to the South after swimming across a stretch of the Yellow Sea.
The penalties for those caught trying to escape North Korea are severe, serving as a stern warning to others. Punishment ranges from labor and political prison camps, where they are subject to torture and inhumane conditions, to execution.
Update 07/16/24, 8:22 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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