On Thursday, South Korea’s president made a historic appointment by naming a former North Korean diplomat, Tae Yongho, to a high-ranking government position. This is the highest-level job ever given to one of the thousands of North Koreans who have resettled in South Korea.
Tae Yongho was a minister at the North Korean Embassy in London before defecting to South Korea in 2016. He is the highest-ranking North Korean defector to have settled in South Korea in recent years.
Tae said he left North Korea because he didn’t want his children to lead “miserable” lives there. He was also disillusioned by leader Kim Jong Un’s harsh treatment of officials and his pursuit of nuclear weapons. After Tae’s defection, North Korea labeled him as “human scum” and accused him of crimes such as embezzling government money.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has now appointed Tae as the secretary general of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council. This council advises the president on policies related to the peaceful reunification of Korea. With this appointment, Tae becomes the first North Korean defector to hold a vice-ministerial position in South Korea, according to the Unification Ministry.
In 2020, Tae was elected to South Korea’s parliament, joining other North Korean defectors who have served as lawmakers. Yoon’s office stated that Tae was chosen for his extensive experience living in North Korea and his work on South Korea’s parliamentary committee on foreign policy and unification.
Most North Korean defectors left their home country following a severe famine in the mid-1990s. Upon arriving in South Korea, they receive citizenship, nearly free housing, resettlement funds, and other benefits. However, many struggle with discrimination and the challenges of adjusting to life in a capitalist and competitive society, as reported in various interviews and surveys.
President Yoon has vowed to provide greater support to improve the lives of North Korean defectors. He made this promise during Sunday’s inaugural “North Korean Defectors’ Day”.
Most defectors are women from North Korea’s poorer northern regions, which have a long and porous border with China. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of North Korean elites fleeing to South Korea, according to the Unification Ministry.
Just this week, South Korea’s spy agency announced that Ri Il Kyu, a counselor of political affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, had defected to South Korea last November.
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