SKorea claims defector came from 'good' NKorean family

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - A senior North Korean diplomat revealed to have escaped to South Korea this week came from a privileged family background, according to local media Thursday -- adding to the blow dealt to Pyongyang by losing a high-ranking official to defection.

Seoul confirmed Wednesday that Thae Yong-ho, second-in-command at Pyongyang's embassy in Britain, was now being offered protection in the South along with his immediate family.

The 55-year-old is reportedly the son of a four-star general who campaigned against Japanese occupation during the 1930s.

"A North Korean diplomat usually works in overseas missions for three years, but Thae had worked in London for 10 years, mainly because of his good family ties," a source was quoted as saying by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Thae's wife also apparently descends from a freedom fighting comrade of Kim Il-sung, who founded North Korea after Japan's World War II defeat led to liberation and then the North-South division of the peninsula.

South Korea's unification ministry suggested that the couple's decision to defect stemmed from a desire to escape Pyongyang's oppressive regime, which has further tightened its grip on North Koreans at home and abroad since being hit with strengthened United Nations sanctions in March.

"This case shows that North Korean elites view that there is no hope in their country," a ministry spokesperson told reporters. "It also indicates that North Korea's regime's internal solidarity is weakening."

In addition to Thae and his family, Seoul earlier hailed the April defection of 13 North Korean restaurant staff based in China as an example of sanctions biting.

An academic and a military officer were among over 800 other North Koreans to flee to South Korea between January and July, representing a jump of more than 15 percent based on official data.

But Thae is seen as one of the most senior diplomats from his country to have ever escaped to the South.