Diplomat Defector Has Ties to North Korean Regime Elite
It is not surprising that the Kim regime would have someone with strong ties to the regime elite serving as the ambassador to Italy because you would think they would have a higher level of loyalty:
According to an informed source who spoke to Asia Times on condition of anonymity, Jo – described as “more important than the ambassador” – is the son of the late deputy head of Pyongyang’s Organization and Guidance Department, or OGD.
Asia Times
The OGD, an ultra-select body of the Korea Workers Party’s Central Committee, was seen by inside sources as the most important state organ under the regime of the late Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011. Defectors such as Hwang Jang Yeop, the highest-level North Korean official ever to come to the South, and Jang Jin Sung, a former regime propaganda officer, considered the OGD of critical importance to state affairs.
Though it is not clear if the OGD is as central to Kim Jong Un’s governance as it was to his father’s, Jo, given his family connection, would be extremely well acquainted with Pyongyang’s top-level elites and the inner workings of and processes of the regime.
His present whereabouts are unknown, but he is thought to be under the protection of Italian authorities.
You can read more at the link.
