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North Korean diplomat in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, Seoul says
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday that a North Korea diplomat based in Cuba has fled to South Korea, the latest in a series of defections by members of the North’s ruling elite in recent years.
The National Intelligence Service said media reports on the defection of a North Korean counselor of political affairs in Cuba were true. A brief statement by the NIS public affairs office gave no further details.
South Korea’s mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier Tuesday that diplomat Ri Il Kyu fled to South Korea with his wife and children last November.
Chosun Ilbo cited Ri as telling the newspaper that he had decided to defect because of disillusionment with North Korea’s political system. But Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean unidentified government source, reported that Ri decided to flee after conflicts with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials about his job evaluations.