Via a reader tip, Thae Yong-ho the North Korean diplomat who defected with his family from the North Korean embassy in the United Kingdom, has spoken out for the first time:
Thae Yong-ho at the North Korean embassy in west London CREDIT: KATIE SCHUBAUBR
Mr Thae spoke to the committee behind closed doors, but Lee Cheol-woo, the committee chairman, told newswire Yonhap that he had become increasingly aware of the “gruesome realities” of the authoritarian regime.
Mr Thae promised to devote his life to “freeing the North Korean people from repression and persecution,” said Mr Lee.
“There are many ranking North Korean officials suffering from depression over concerns they will have to live like slaves for a long time if the North’s young leader rules the country for decades,” he quoted Mr Thae as saying.
“Thae said that he had come to grasp South Korea’s democracy and (economic) development by watching South Korean dramas and movies during his long stay in foreign countries,” added Mr Lee.
Mr Thae, who fled with his wife and two sons, will begin his resettlement process on Friday. He has vowed to work for Korean unification, but he will likely continue to live under tight security.
“I will engage in public activities even if it threatens my own safety,” he is reported as saying. [The Telegraph]
You can read more at the link, but you would think this guy would want to keep a low profile because he is definitely going to be a target of North Korean reprisals. He likely has a poison needle with his name on it right next to the one for fellow outspoken defector Park Sang-hak. It will also be interesting to see how outspoken the ROK government will allow him to be if a Korean left wing politician likely takes power after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.
Here are some more details about the defection of North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho:
According to multiple sources who spoke under the condition of anonymity, Thae physically met an official from the South Korean government in mid-July at a tennis court in Britain and said he wished to defect with his wife and two sons. The family realized that plan late last month, traveling directly from the United Kingdom to South Korea.
That rendezvous at the tennis court was the first time Thae had ever opened up to a South Korean official about his desire to defect, the sources said.
Steve Evans, a South Korean correspondent for BBC, wrote in an article published Tuesday that he has pleasant memories” with Thae and that “the signs were there” that the diplomat thought about defecting to South Korea.
“I recall he asked me about life in Seoul,” wrote Evans. “I told him it was a mega-bustling city, a world away from Pyongyang.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans are blaming the defection on coercion by the ROK with money, women and possibly even kidnapping his kids.
