A high-profile North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba has defected to the South, Seoul’s spy agency has confirmed to the BBC.
The political counselor is believed to be the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to South Korea since 2016.
The diplomat defected in November, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said.
Details about defections of North Koreans often take months to come to light as the defectors must take courses on South Korean society before they are formally integrated.
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His work reportedly involved stopping Havana from forging official diplomatic ties with Seoul. However, in February, the two governments did establish official relations, in what was seen as a setback for Pyongyang.
“Every North Korean thinks at least once about living in South Korea,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
How do most defectors fare once the integration process is complete? Does Seoul help with post defection career placement?
North Korean defectors receive significant governmental support in South Korea, albeit some might argue it’s inadequate. The majority successfully integrate, securing job and attaining a moderate standard of living, although quite significant wage gap exists between defectors and South Korean-born citizens (approximately $500 avg. as of 2019). According to 2019 survey, 74.2% of defectors are satisfied with their lives in South Korea.
Still, some defectors struggle with adaptation, unfortunately leading to criminal behavior or, in extreme cases, suicide.
Obviously, those from privileged backgrounds in NK tend to adapt more easily. They often arrive with significant funds (with questionable source) and make a deal with the SK gov. to not ask about its origin in exchange for NK’s internal intel, which this guy obviously will have a lot.
Some integrate better than others most certainly. Younger defectors might go to Korean universities. Older ones might go work in factories or wherever they’re a good fit. Some want to go back to North Korea because they can’t handle the cultural differences.
This guy is higher-profile than most, so he’s prolly gonna live pretty kushily.
Can they go back? Wouldn’t they risk imprisonment or execution?
Naw. They ain’t going back. There’s no program to send them back and it would be a massive security risk.
I’m pretty sure like 80% of North Korean defectors start in China. Obviously, a top diplomat with resources wouldn’t necessarily do that since China wants to keep up appearances (even if they sort of hate North Korea). But “most” “defectors” fare about as well as “illegal immigrants” in the U.S. or Europe.
As cynical as it may be, it’s in South Korea’s, China’s, and North Korea’s interest to ignore most of it. If it gets media attention, maybe South Korea or a Western country accepts them as asylum seekers. A few times, people got into western embassies in Beijing and it was global news. China was not happy. But most people who leave North Korea end up working in a Beijing noodle shop or whatever.
And South Korea, while often proclaiming to want reunification, doesn’t actually want the headaches. It’d probably be 1,000 times more complex than Germany and East Germany reuniting.