The acting North Korean ambassador to Rome applied for asylum to an unidentified country according to an anonymous diplomatic source in Seoul on Thursday.
The latest high-profile defection came from Jo Song Gil, the acting North Korean ambassador to Rome, who applied for asylum with his family according to South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo daily said, citing unnamed diplomatic sources in Seoul.
"He sought asylum early last month," the JoongAng quoted one source as saying.
The official said Italian authorities were "agonizing" over how to proceed with the request, but they continued to protect him in a safe place.
North Korea's previous senior diplomatic defector was deputy ambassador to London Thae Yong Ho, who defected while serving in London in 2016.
Jo is "known to be a son or son-in-law of one of the highest-level officials in the North's regime", the JoongAng cited an unnamed North Korea expert as saying.
The 48-year-old had been acting ambassador in Rome since Italy expelled the previous ambassador Mun Jong Nam in October 2017 in retaliation for a nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang a month earlier which violated United Nations resolutions.
Many diplomats serving overseas from North Korea are required to leave several family members in their home country as a means of preventing defection, but Jo came with his wife and children to Rome.
JoongAng said that fact indicated he came from a privileged family, though the reason for his defection was still unclear.
Thae said he switched sides in London in order to give his three children a better future after he was ordered to return home to North Korea.
North Korea is believed to carry out a number of human rights abuses, including implementing labor camps and public executions.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Wong Maye-E