North Korean diplomat at London embassy 'defects to another country'

North Korean diplomat at London embassy 'defects to another country'
16 August 2016
A diplomat at the North Korean embassy in London has defected and fled abroad with his family, BBC News understands.

The diplomat, Thae Yong Ho, had served as deputy to the ambassador and was responsible for promoting the image of his country to British audiences.

He had reportedly lived in the UK for 10 years with his wife and family and disappeared from his home in west London several weeks ago.

Neither the Foreign Office nor the embassy has commented.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37097602
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My friend the North Korean defector
16 August 2016
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37098904

An interesting and somewhat humorous read. LL

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/north-korean-diplomat-at-london-embassy-defects-to-another-country-a7194936.html

A senior North Korean diplomat based in London has defected, South Korea has confirmed.

The deputy ambassador, Thae Yong Ho, has arrived with his family in South Korea, making him the highest-ranking diplomat ever to defect to the South.

Mr Thae defected due to his discontent with the regime and for the future of his child, Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman at the South's Unification Ministry, told a news conference.

Mr Jeong declined to give details on the timing of Mr Thae's arrival in the South.

"They are currently under government protection and relevant institutions are going ahead with necessary procedures as usual," he said.

According to the South Korean daily newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, the DPRK Embassy made attempts to figure out the diplomat's whereabouts, but failed....etc.

I'm glad to see he's got at least him immediate family out.

Me too or else heaven knows what would happen to them.

Diplomat's defection poses major PR problem for Pyongyang
August 18, 2016
TOKYO (AP) — The defection of a North Korean senior diplomat in London poses a major problem for Pyongyang on a number of fronts — not least of which is how to publicly respond. As of Thursday, Pyongyang hadn't made a public statement about the defection. But when — or if — it does, its response will likely be ferocious and accusatory.

Seoul's Unification Ministry announced Wednesday that Thae Yong Ho, minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, has arrived in South Korea with his family and is under the protection of the South Korean government. Thae was the second-highest official in North Korea's embassy and is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to the South.

Seoul, which doesn't always divulge defections, was quick to seize on this one as evidence of growing dissent within the North's ruling elite. Its Unification Ministry claimed Thae defected because of his disgust with the Kim Jong Un regime and worries about the future of his children. A spokesman for the ministry further said that the defection is a sign of weakening unity within the North's ruling class.

Extrapolations about the bigger significance of individual defections should be taken with a grain of salt. Seoul and Pyongyang have strong political and propaganda motivations for the way they handle announcements about defections. Analysts generally agree there are no significant signs Kim Jong Un's regime is weakening. Moreover, previous defections of officials from the North have by and large been isolated incidents that did not lead to a chain of more choosing to flee.

Thae himself has not yet spoken in public about his motives and details about the context of his defection remain sketchy. Defectors are referred to by the North in the harshest of terms. "Human scum" is a common epithet, along with "criminals" or "traitors." Pyongyang often accuses the South of tricking or paying its citizens to defect, or claims that they have simply been kidnapped.

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. The North responded furiously to the South's account of the flight of the restaurant workers, alleging repeatedly that the women — 12 waitresses and their manager — were tricked into thinking they were being transferred to work at another restaurant in Malaysia. It has also presented the colleagues and parents of the waitresses to North Korean and international media in Pyongyang to appeal for their release.

Seoul categorically denies any wrongdoing. Thae's case presents a more difficult conundrum for Pyongyang. Though South Korea doesn't always make high-level defection cases public, its announcement of Thae's flight comes as ties between the rivals are at one of their lowest points in decades. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and Seoul been working hard to apply more international pressure on the North.

Thae, 55, is a veteran diplomat who is experienced in dealing with countries in Western Europe. He led a North Korean delegation that held talks with European Union representatives over the North's human rights situation in Brussels in 2001, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

He had worked at the London embassy for about 10 years, Yonhap said. Previously, he worked at the now-closed embassy in Denmark and spent a short period of time at the embassy in Sweden, it said. In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled, but he resettled in the United States.

North Korea calls diplomat defector 'human scum'
August 20, 2016
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday that a senior North Korean diplomat who recently defected to South Korea is a criminal and "human scum," in its first official response to the defection.

The official Korean Central News Agency also accused Seoul of using the defection of Thae Yong Ho, formerly a minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, for propaganda aimed at insulting the North Korean leadership. It also denounced the British government for ignoring international protocol by rejecting what it said were demands to have Thae extradited back to the North and instead handing him over to the South.
http://www.mail.com/int/news/world/4557058-north-korea-calls-diplomat-defector-human-scum.html#.1258-stage-hero1-4

Fears North Korea Is Planning Revenge Assassinations For Defections
North Korea may be planning assassinations and kidnappings in revenge for recent defections, according to Seoul.

An official from South Korea's Unification Ministry said the defection of North Korea's deputy ambassador in London Thae Yong Ho and his family was among those that had put the North in "a very difficult situation".
http://news.sky.com/story/fears-north-korea-is-planning-revenge-assassinations-for-defections-10546318

I have little doubt they will do something horrible, to someone, over this, LL.

bb1 wrote:I have little doubt they will do something horrible, to someone, over this, LL.

Of course they will, which is why he took his immediate family with him. But there are the rest of his relatives .... LL

I sincerely hope they will be okay.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/30/north-korea-executes-two-officials-with-anti-aircraft-guns/

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, ordered the public execution of two senior bureaucrats with an anti-aircraft gun, with South Korean media suggesting the killings are the start of a "new reign of terror" in the aftermath of a series of recent high-profile defections.

Sources told South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that one of the men was identified as Ri Yong-jin, an official in the education ministry, who made the mistake of falling asleep in a meeting with Mr Kim. "He incurred the wrath of Kim after he dozed off during a meeting that Kim presided over," the newspaper quoted the source as saying.

"He was arrested on-site and intensively questioned by the state security ministry," the paper claimed. "He was executed after other charges, such as corruption, were found during the probe."

The second official was named as Hwang Min, a former agriculture ministry, who was executed "because policy proposals he had pushed for were seen as a direct challenge to the leadership of Kim Jong-un," the newspaper reported.

Details of those policies were not provided, although it has been confirmed that Mr Hwang was replaced in a meeting of the North Korean parliament in late June.....etc.

Machine gun executions are par for the course for anyone who upsets Fatty Spoonbanger. LL

I am sure they are just as dead after being killed by anti-aircraft guns, LL, I would suspect that was done for the horror value.....

bb1 wrote:I am sure they are just as dead after being killed by anti-aircraft guns, LL, I would suspect that was done for the horror value.....

My son-in-law says it's a control thing, done as you say to horrify the people and remind them that it can happen to anyone. LL

Yes. A machine gun is just as quick and deadly, but the human body being hit by anti-aircraft fire....

Speechless......

bb1 wrote:Yes. A machine gun is just as quick and deadly, but the human body being hit by anti-aircraft fire....

You would need a large shovel and a very large strong bag for the bits,
LL

My G*d.....

He's done worse than this. I wish someone would just shoot him.

I know what you mean, Bonny.

Kim Jong-un has executed education vice premier Kim Yong Jin (circled) by firing squad because he did not sit properly during a meeting

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3768569/Kim-Jong-executes-education-minister-firing-squad-not-sitting-properly-meeting.html#ixzz4J3BOHAZL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Has Fattie finally tipped over into full Mad Dictator psychosis?

Sounds like it.....

 What a flaming great a-h.... that    is for allowing any of that.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/child-chain-gangs-north-korea-9460513

Child chain gangs of North Korea exposed, as kids as young as five forced to repair railways

I suspect the state would collapse without slave labour, child and adult.

Have no words good enough to express my disgust