A prominent North Korean minister stationed in Cuba has reportedly resigned from the South, according to Seoul’s detective bureau.
The social consultant is regarded as the highest-ranking diplomat from North Korea to leave South Korea since 2016.
The diplomat defected in November, the National Intelligence Service ( NIS ) said.
Details of North Korean defections frequently take months to become public because defectors must first fully integrate themselves before taking courses in South Korean society.
According to South Korean media reports, the diplomat was a political affairs consultant at the Cuban North Korean consulate. The NIS has not yet confirmed this to the BBC.
Ri Il Kyu, a 52-year-old minister, was reportedly available for meeting by the Chosun Ilbo paper.
He defected because of “disillusionment with the North Vietnamese government and a dark coming,” the article added.
His alleged goal was to stop Havana from establishing formal diplomatic relations with Seoul. But, in February, the two governments did identify official relationships, in what was seen as a loss for Pyongyang.
Every Northern Korean has at least one thought about residing in South Korea, the paper quoted him as saying.
Tae Yong-ho’s most recent well-known resignation to the South was in 2016. He is North Korea’s past assistant ambassador to the United Kingdom.
On Sunday, South Korea marked its very earliest North Korean Dissenters ‘ Time meeting.
Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, made promises at the service that the country’s leaders would provide better financial assistance to North Korean defectors and that they would receive tax incentives for hiring them.
Mr Yoon, a liberal, has taken a more aggressive view towards North Korea and on foreign policy standard, compared to his father Moon Jae-In.
He supports restrictions against Kim Jong Un’s plan and has pledged to develop systems to launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea if Pyongyang tries to attack Seoul.
The most recent resignation comes at a time when there are growing tensions between the two Koreas.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, has officially abandoned the effort to reunite with the South and recently branded Seoul as” Enemy number One,” a remarkable turn from the first meeting with next South Korean president Moon Jae In just six years ago.
On both sides of the border, language has increased since then.
The two countries floated propaganda balloons along their border towns, with those from the North containing trash and parasites.
And earlier in June, Pyongyang claimed to have test-fired an advanced nuclear warhead missile.