Thae Yong-ho, a top North Korean diplomat at the embassy in London, has defected to South Korea, the South Korean government announced on Wednesday.
Thae served as North Korea’s No.2 official at its embassy in London and is the senior-most North Korean diplomat to defect from the repressive country in nearly two decades. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification announced the news at a press conference on Wednesday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The ministry also announced the news on Twitter, saying that Thae and his family recently entered the country and are under the protection of the South Korean government.
"Presided over by North Korea Embassy in United Kingdom Tae-young-HO and his wife, with the family, such as the recent construction of the child entry," the ministry’s official account wrote, according to a translation. "These are currently under the protection of the Government and related agencies are usually required, depending on the procedure, the procedure is in progress."
Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman for the ministry, said at a news conference in Seoul that Thae is believed to have defected because of his disillusionment with the repressive regime of leader Kim Jong Un.
"This case shows that North Korean elites view that there is no hope in their country," Jeong said. "It also indicates that North Korea’s regime’s internal solidarity is weakening."
Jeong emphasized that Thae is one of the senior-most North Korean diplomats to have defected. Thae served as the embassy’s minister and was second only to Ambassador Hyon Hak-bong in London. He is the highest-ranking diplomat to defect from the country since 1997, the year that Jang Seung-gil, the North Korean ambassador in Egypt, defected from North Korea to the United States, according to the New York Times.
The announcement comes as tensions between North and South Korea, the latter a U.S. ally, continue to escalate over Pyongyang’s nuclear program and missile tests.