KOREA: Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat, has been appointed as the new leader of South Korea's presidential advisory council on unification. This appointment marks Tae as the highest-ranking defector among the thousands who have resettled in South Korea, and he is the first to hold a vice-ministerial position.
Tae, aged 62, previously served as Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom before defecting to South Korea in 2016. North Korea has labeled him as "human scum" and accused him of embezzlement and other crimes. Despite these allegations, Tae made history by becoming the first former North Korean to win a seat in South Korea's National Assembly in 2020. Although he did not secure a second term in the April parliamentary elections, he will now play a crucial role in advising President Yoon Suk Yeol on strategies for peaceful Korean unification.
The presidential office praised Tae's appointment, stating, "He is the right person to help establish a peaceful unification policy based on liberal democracy and garner support from home and abroad."
Born in Pyongyang in 1962, Tae began his career in the foreign service at 27, working under three generations of the ruling Kim dynasty. He defected from North Korea, citing concerns for his children's future and disillusionment with Kim Jong Un's regime. In his recent memoir, Tae detailed the excesses of the North Korean elite and the intense personality cult surrounding the Kim family.
Since his defection, Tae has advocated for using "soft power" to undermine the Kim regime and has called for prisoner exchanges between the North and South. Tensions between the two Koreas have escalated recently, with South Korea resuming propaganda broadcasts in response to North Korea's balloon drops carrying trash into the South. Satellite imagery also indicates that North Korea may be enhancing its military presence and constructing barriers along its border with the South.
As of December last year, approximately 34,000 North Korean defectors have resettled in South Korea, often by first traveling through China. In South Korea, they receive automatic citizenship and resettlement support.
This week, South Korea's intelligence agency confirmed another high-profile defection involving Ri Il Kyu, a former diplomat stationed in Cuba. Ri, 52, cited disillusionment with the North Korean regime as his reason for fleeing.
On Sunday, South Korea celebrated its inaugural North Korean Defectors' Day, during which President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged increased financial support for defectors and tax incentives for businesses that employ them.
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