A senior North Korean diplomat working in Cuba has defected to South Korea, Seoul’s spy agency has confirmed to the BBC.
The political adviser is believed to be the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea since 2016.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said the diplomat defected in November.
Details about North Korean defectors often take months to come to light because defectors must take courses on South Korean society before they are officially integrated.
South Korean media reported that the defector was an adviser in charge of political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba. The NIS has not confirmed this information to the BBC.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said it had interviewed the diplomat, identified as Ri Il Kyu, 52.
The report added that he defected because of “disillusionment with the North Korean regime and a bleak future”.
His job was said to involve preventing Havana from establishing formal diplomatic relations with Seoul. However, in February, the two governments established formal relations, which was seen as a setback for Pyongyang.
“Every North Korean has thought about living in South Korea at least once,” the paper quoted him as saying.
The most recent known high-profile defection to the South was that of Tae Yong-ho in 2016. He was North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom.
On Sunday, South Korea marked its first Memorial Day for North Korean Defectors.
Speaking at the ceremony, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised better financial support for North Korean defectors and tax incentives for companies that hire them.
Mr Yoon, a conservative, has taken a harder line on North Korea and foreign policy in general than his predecessor Moon Jae-In.
He supports sanctions against the Kim Jong Un regime and has promised to develop technology to carry out a preemptive strike on North Korea if Pyongyang were to attack Seoul.
The latest defection comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two Koreas.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has officially abandoned his goal of unification with the South and recently called Seoul “Enemy Number One” – a significant change from six years ago when he formally met with South Korean leader Moon Jae In.
Since then, there has been an increase in rhetoric on both sides of the border.
Two countries rise propaganda balloons along their border towns, with those from the North contain garbage and parasites.
And in early June, Pyongyang claim to have tested an advanced nuclear-tipped missile.
