A senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea last November -- just months before Seoul and Havana established diplomatic ties, South Korea's spy agency said Tuesday.
North Korean diplomat Ri Il Kyu had been responsible for political affairs at Pyongyang's embassy in Cuba since 2019, tasked specifically "with obstructing the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba", according to South Korea's Chosun Daily.
Ri defected to South Korea with his wife and children in early November, making him the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat known to have defected since Thae Yong Ho, Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to Britain, in 2016, the report said.
South Korea's spy agency told AFP Tuesday that it was "true" there had been a "defection of the counselor of political affairs from the North Korean embassy in Cuba", without giving further details.
