Ri Il-gyu, a 52-year-old political counselor at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, defected to South Korea with his wife and children in early November last year, as reported by the South Korean media outlet Chosun Ilbo on July 16, local time.
Ri, known for his expertise on Cuba within the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had served as the political counselor at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba since April 2019. His responsibilities included preventing the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba, according to the report.
Ri is the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea since Thae Yong-ho, the deputy to the ambassador at the North Korean Embassy in the United Kingdom, defected in 2016. Other notable defections include Jo Song-gil, North Korea’s acting ambassador to Italy, and Ryu Hyun-woo, the former acting ambassador to Kuwait, both of whom defected in 2019.
“Every North Korean at some point thinks about what it would be like to live in South Korea,” Ri said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo. “My disillusionment with the North Korean regime, pessimism about the bleak future, and the desire to escape from such a society were the starting points of my defection.”
According to the report, Ri joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999 and was a third secretary (externally titled first secretary) at the Cuban embassy when the North Korean ship “Chong Chon Gang” was intercepted in the Panama Canal carrying surface-to-air missiles and fighter jet parts in 2013.
Ri said he successfully negotiated with Panamanian authorities for the release of the detained ship, its captain, and crew, earning a commendation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for his efforts.
He then served as deputy director of the Latin American division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pyongyang for about three years from 2016, closely observing the Kim Jong-un regime before being reappointed to Cuba in 2019.
Despite being an elite diplomat who received accolades from Kim Jong-un, Ri remarked, “In fact, North Koreans long for reunification a lot more than South Koreans. Everyone shares the belief that ‘the only answer is reunification’ for their children to have a better future. Today, the Kim Jong-un regime has ruthlessly snatched away even the last shred of hope that remained among the people.”
Last year, Kim Jong-un declared that “there is no possibility of reunification.”
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
