Prominent North Korean Defector Announces Run for South Korean Parliament

It is going to be interesting to see how this turns out because Thae Yong-ho only has two months to campaign for a parliament seat and he is running on an issue, North Korean defectors, that many in the Korean public are apathetic about:

A high-profile North Korean defector officially announced his bid to run in the April parliamentary elections Tuesday, vowing to work for inter-Korean unification if elected.

Thae Yong-ho, a former senior North Korean diplomat, joined the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and will run in a constituency in Seoul for the April 15 elections, not for a parliamentary proportional representation seat.

Thae, who defected to South Korea in 2016, said his potential victory could give hope to North Koreans aspiring for freedom and help the two Koreas move toward unification.

“I solemnly promise to devote myself in building a unified Korea through parliamentary activity,” Thae said at a press conference at the National Assembly.

Yonhap

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