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| North Korea’s No. 2 Diplomat in London Defects to the South | North Korea’s No. 2 Diplomat in London Defects to the South |
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| SEOUL, South Korea — He enjoyed a bit of tennis at the local club. He indulged in curry at an Indian restaurant in the west London neighborhood where he lived. As the No. 2 North Korean diplomat in Britain, he chaperoned a brother of his country’s reclusive leader to an Eric Clapton concert last year. | SEOUL, South Korea — He enjoyed a bit of tennis at the local club. He indulged in curry at an Indian restaurant in the west London neighborhood where he lived. As the No. 2 North Korean diplomat in Britain, he chaperoned a brother of his country’s reclusive leader to an Eric Clapton concert last year. |
| The diplomat, Thae Yong-ho, 55, seemed to embrace the trappings of a comfortable life in a capitalist capital thousands of miles from dreary North Korea, never hinting at disloyalty. He had lived in London for a decade, trusted because of his family’s impeccable legacy in North Korean history. | |
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| So it was a shock on Wednesday when South Korea announced that Mr. Thae had betrayed his hermetic homeland by becoming the most senior North Korean official to defect in nearly two decades. | So it was a shock on Wednesday when South Korea announced that Mr. Thae had betrayed his hermetic homeland by becoming the most senior North Korean official to defect in nearly two decades. |
| How and when the diplomat had eluded his colleagues at the North Korean Embassy, who are required to monitor one another to thwart treason, was not clear. But a South Korean government spokesman, Jeong Joon-hee, said at a news conference that the diplomat had arrived recently in South Korea with his wife and family, proclaiming disillusionment with the increasingly isolated government of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. | How and when the diplomat had eluded his colleagues at the North Korean Embassy, who are required to monitor one another to thwart treason, was not clear. But a South Korean government spokesman, Jeong Joon-hee, said at a news conference that the diplomat had arrived recently in South Korea with his wife and family, proclaiming disillusionment with the increasingly isolated government of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. |
| Mr. Jeong did not specify how many family members had accompanied Mr. Thae or whether any remained in North Korea, where they could be at risk of reprisal. Nor did he explain the route taken by Mr. Thae, second in rank to Ambassador Hyon Hak-bong in London. | Mr. Jeong did not specify how many family members had accompanied Mr. Thae or whether any remained in North Korea, where they could be at risk of reprisal. Nor did he explain the route taken by Mr. Thae, second in rank to Ambassador Hyon Hak-bong in London. |
| “We see his defection as a sign that some of the core elite in the North are losing hope in the Kim Jong-un regime,” Mr. Jeong said, “and that the internal unity of the ruling class in the North is weakening.” | “We see his defection as a sign that some of the core elite in the North are losing hope in the Kim Jong-un regime,” Mr. Jeong said, “and that the internal unity of the ruling class in the North is weakening.” |
| South Korean officials expressed similar conclusions in April when 13 people working at a restaurant run by the North Korean government in China fled to the South. Officials said that unusual group defection reflected growing dissatisfaction in the North. | South Korean officials expressed similar conclusions in April when 13 people working at a restaurant run by the North Korean government in China fled to the South. Officials said that unusual group defection reflected growing dissatisfaction in the North. |
| But analysts have cautioned against drawing such conclusions. | But analysts have cautioned against drawing such conclusions. |
| Cheong Seong-chang, an expert on North Korea at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, said that isolated defections like Mr. Thae’s should not be taken as an indication of instability in the North, and that there was no sign of an organized challenge to Mr. Kim’s rule. | Cheong Seong-chang, an expert on North Korea at the Sejong Institute in Seoul, said that isolated defections like Mr. Thae’s should not be taken as an indication of instability in the North, and that there was no sign of an organized challenge to Mr. Kim’s rule. |
| Others were cautious because some North Korean defectors to South Korea have not always found happiness, a message that may have found its way back to Pyongyang, the North’s capital, and elsewhere. | Others were cautious because some North Korean defectors to South Korea have not always found happiness, a message that may have found its way back to Pyongyang, the North’s capital, and elsewhere. |
| “I think we will continue to see senior defections but at a trickling pace,” said Jae H. Ku, director of the U.S. Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. “I don’t think we are at a point where we will see massive defections by elites because these elites have not yet found ways to live comfortably in South Korea.” | “I think we will continue to see senior defections but at a trickling pace,” said Jae H. Ku, director of the U.S. Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. “I don’t think we are at a point where we will see massive defections by elites because these elites have not yet found ways to live comfortably in South Korea.” |
| Still, Mr. Thae’s defection could yield a trove of intelligence information. It came as relations between the Koreas had worsened over the North’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, tested in defiance of international sanctions. | Still, Mr. Thae’s defection could yield a trove of intelligence information. It came as relations between the Koreas had worsened over the North’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, tested in defiance of international sanctions. |
| While the North had no immediate reaction to the defection announcement, it was seen in the South and elsewhere as a major embarrassment for Mr. Kim, who has disciplined subordinates by demoting them or in some cases executing them. | While the North had no immediate reaction to the defection announcement, it was seen in the South and elsewhere as a major embarrassment for Mr. Kim, who has disciplined subordinates by demoting them or in some cases executing them. |
| The last time a North Korean diplomat of such high rank defected was in 1997, when Jang Seung-gil, the ambassador to Egypt, sought refuge in the United States with his younger brother, a North Korean diplomat in Paris. | The last time a North Korean diplomat of such high rank defected was in 1997, when Jang Seung-gil, the ambassador to Egypt, sought refuge in the United States with his younger brother, a North Korean diplomat in Paris. |
| Inklings of a betrayal in the North Korean Embassy in London surfaced a few days ago when a South Korean mass-circulation newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, quoted an anonymous source saying a diplomat there had defected in early August after “painstaking preparation.” By the time other embassy officials realized this, the newspaper said, the diplomat had fled. | Inklings of a betrayal in the North Korean Embassy in London surfaced a few days ago when a South Korean mass-circulation newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, quoted an anonymous source saying a diplomat there had defected in early August after “painstaking preparation.” By the time other embassy officials realized this, the newspaper said, the diplomat had fled. |
| Mr. Thae has been well known in the British news media, acting as the embassy’s main point of contact for British correspondents traveling to Pyongyang. Reuters reported that Mr. Thae spoke regularly at far-left events in London, including meetings of a British Communist Party where he would make impassioned speeches in defense of North Korea. | Mr. Thae has been well known in the British news media, acting as the embassy’s main point of contact for British correspondents traveling to Pyongyang. Reuters reported that Mr. Thae spoke regularly at far-left events in London, including meetings of a British Communist Party where he would make impassioned speeches in defense of North Korea. |
| Steve Evans, a BBC Korea correspondent who had met Mr. Thae in London, remembered the North Korean as a middle-aged man who appeared to enjoy life in the suburbs of west London. He frequented a curry restaurant and liked to talk about family and health, including worries about the onset of diabetes, Mr. Evans said. He switched to tennis after his wife complained about his obsession with golf. | Steve Evans, a BBC Korea correspondent who had met Mr. Thae in London, remembered the North Korean as a middle-aged man who appeared to enjoy life in the suburbs of west London. He frequented a curry restaurant and liked to talk about family and health, including worries about the onset of diabetes, Mr. Evans said. He switched to tennis after his wife complained about his obsession with golf. |
| Mr. Thae was one of the North Korean escorts seen accompanying Mr. Kim’s elder brother, Kim Jong-chol, to a Clapton concert in London in 2015. | Mr. Thae was one of the North Korean escorts seen accompanying Mr. Kim’s elder brother, Kim Jong-chol, to a Clapton concert in London in 2015. |
| The diplomat had been scheduled to return to Pyongyang this summer with his wife and son, Mr. Evans reported. | The diplomat had been scheduled to return to Pyongyang this summer with his wife and son, Mr. Evans reported. |
| “But he seemed so British,” he wrote. “He seemed so at home. He seemed so middle class, so conservative, so dapper. He had never given any hint of disloyalty to the regime, not a flicker of doubt.” | “But he seemed so British,” he wrote. “He seemed so at home. He seemed so middle class, so conservative, so dapper. He had never given any hint of disloyalty to the regime, not a flicker of doubt.” |
| According to South Korean news media, Mr. Thae and his wife, Oh Hae-son, 50, hailed from a most coveted elite family background in the North. Mr. Thae was a son of Thae Byong-ryol, who was a comrade-in-arms of Mr. Kim’s grandfather, the North’s founding President Kim Il-sung, when Mr. Kim was a leader of Korean guerrillas fighting against Japanese colonialists in the early 20th century, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Ms. Oh was a relative of another former Korean partisan guerrilla named Oh Baek-ryong, the mass-circulation daily Chosun Ilbo reported. | |
| Offspring of the former guerrillas occupy key posts of the Pyongyang government, constituting a core elite buttressing Mr. Kim’s regime and living with a luxury ordinary North Koreans can only dream of. They are allowed to study abroad, as Mr. Thae and his sons did, in China and in Europe. Mr. Thae served in London for 10 years, an unusually long stint in a prime outpost for a North Korean diplomat. Thae Hyong-chol, the president of the prestigious Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, was Mr. Thae’s brother, Yonhap said. | Offspring of the former guerrillas occupy key posts of the Pyongyang government, constituting a core elite buttressing Mr. Kim’s regime and living with a luxury ordinary North Koreans can only dream of. They are allowed to study abroad, as Mr. Thae and his sons did, in China and in Europe. Mr. Thae served in London for 10 years, an unusually long stint in a prime outpost for a North Korean diplomat. Thae Hyong-chol, the president of the prestigious Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, was Mr. Thae’s brother, Yonhap said. |
| South Korean officials have cited recent defectors as proof that some North Korean elites abroad were defecting rather than facing persecution, as it became increasingly difficult to perform their missions under tightened international sanctions. | South Korean officials have cited recent defectors as proof that some North Korean elites abroad were defecting rather than facing persecution, as it became increasingly difficult to perform their missions under tightened international sanctions. |
| North Korean embassies have often played a crucial role in the North’s efforts to acquire equipment for its nuclear and missile programs and trade in weapons and other illicit goods to raise funds for Mr. Kim, officials in South Korea said. | North Korean embassies have often played a crucial role in the North’s efforts to acquire equipment for its nuclear and missile programs and trade in weapons and other illicit goods to raise funds for Mr. Kim, officials in South Korea said. |
| Diplomats from the North usually live under tight surveillance, ordered to spy on one another for any sign of disloyalty, defectors have said. The North Korean system also ensures that some family members of diplomats are left at home in the North, effectively making them hostages to discourage defections. | Diplomats from the North usually live under tight surveillance, ordered to spy on one another for any sign of disloyalty, defectors have said. The North Korean system also ensures that some family members of diplomats are left at home in the North, effectively making them hostages to discourage defections. |
| But over the years, some North Korean diplomats have escaped. A first secretary at the North Korean Embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo defected to the South in 1991, followed by Hyon Song-il, a diplomat based in Zambia. Upon arriving in Seoul in 1996, Mr. Hyon said he followed his wife, who had defected to the South earlier after quarreling with the ambassador, her husband’s boss. A diplomat based in Bangkok fled to Seoul in 2000 with his family. | But over the years, some North Korean diplomats have escaped. A first secretary at the North Korean Embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo defected to the South in 1991, followed by Hyon Song-il, a diplomat based in Zambia. Upon arriving in Seoul in 1996, Mr. Hyon said he followed his wife, who had defected to the South earlier after quarreling with the ambassador, her husband’s boss. A diplomat based in Bangkok fled to Seoul in 2000 with his family. |
| The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea dropped from a high of 2,706 in 2011 to 1,275 last year, as Mr. Kim ordered his country to tighten border control with China, the first stop for almost all asylum seekers. | The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea dropped from a high of 2,706 in 2011 to 1,275 last year, as Mr. Kim ordered his country to tighten border control with China, the first stop for almost all asylum seekers. |
| The number of defectors began picking up again this year, with 749 arriving in the first six months. | The number of defectors began picking up again this year, with 749 arriving in the first six months. |