North Korean diplomat who vanished from London embassy has defected to South Korea with his family, Seoul officials reveal
The diplomat has become one of the highest-level North Korean officials to defect
A TOP North Korean diplomat who was based in London has defected to South Korea, officials have confirmed.
Thae Yong-ho and his family, who were based at North Korea's embassy in west London's Ealing, vanished earlier this month with South Korean officials now confirming the official had defected.
South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee spoke at a news conference, saying: "They are currently under government protection and relevant institutions are going ahead with necessary procedures as usual.
"On his reasons for defection, Minister Thae cited disgust with Kim Jong-un's regime, admiration for South Korea's free, democratic system and the future of his family."
While posted in London, Thae's job was to rebut criticism of his country's human rights record as well as to keep track of North Korean defectors in the UK.
The case is the first of its kind since official ties were opened between North Korea and Britain in 2000.
In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but resettled in the United States.
Britain's Foreign Office declined to comment.
RELATED STORIES
Ramon Pacheco Pardo, senior lecturer in international relations at King's College London, said a diplomatic defection "could prove very valuable to South Korea, the U.S. and other countries."
He said: "Most North Korean defectors have limited access to the inner workings of the North Korean regime.
"The defection of a diplomat would allow intelligence services and military forces in other countries to learn more about the level of support that Kim Jong Un enjoys, recent developments in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs or the extent to which real economic reforms are being implemented.
"The defection of a high-level diplomat could also signal growing internal scepticism about the strength of the Kim Jong Un regime, since they are a rare occurrence."
The highest-level North Korean to seek asylum in South Korea is Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers' Party official who once tutored Kim Jong Un's late father, dictator Kim Jong Il.
Hwang's 1997 defection was hailed by many South Koreans as an intelligence bonanza and a sign that the North's political system was inferior to the South's.
Hwang died in 2010.
Defections are a source of bitter contention between the rival Koreas, and South Korea doesn't always make high-profile cases public.
North Korea often accuses the South of kidnapping or enticing its citizens to defect.
The defection is from one of the most high positions in the ministry of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, pictured in May
In April, 13 North Koreans working at a North Korean-operated restaurant in China defected to South Korea in the largest group defection since Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011.
Later in April, South Korea also revealed that a colonel in North Korea's military spy agency had defected to the South last year.
More than 29,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to South Korean government records.
Many defectors have said they wanted to leave North Korea's harsh political system and poverty.
Wednesday's announcement came as North Korea is responding angrily to a U.S. plan to place an advanced missile defense system in South Korea.
The North has warned of unspecified retaliation and fired several missiles into the sea earlier this month.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368