North Korean defector fled to win his sons’ freedom

Highest ranking diplomat found sanctuary in South

SEOUL // The highest- level North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea said he decided to flee last year because he did not want his children to live miserable lives in the North.

Thae Yong-ho, a former minister at the North Korean embassy in London, said yesterday he was lucky to have been able to bring both his sons to London, unlike other North Korean diplomats who are forced to leave some of their children at home as hostages.

After his sons, now 20 and 27, learnt about life in Britain, they began asking him questions, such as why North Korea barred use of the internet and executed people without proper legal procedures, he said.

Their British friends at school made fun of them over the nature of their homeland, he said. When they grew long hair, their friends laughed and asked whether they could be arrested in North Korea because they had heard all young men were required to have short haircuts. “These kinds of questions bombarded my sons,” Mr Thae said. Mr Thae, who as a diplomat abroad had the privilege of access to outside information, said he decided to talk frankly with them about North Korea. He concluded that his sons would lead miserable lives if they returned home because they had come to know the truth about the country.

Ahead of their defection to South Korea, Mr Thae said he told his sons that he was going to “cut the chains of slavery and you are free men”.

He said his sons are “now feeling a true sense of freedom” in South Korea.

Mr Thae said disappointment with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was another reason he defected. He said he initially had some hopes for Mr Kim, but eventually fell into despair after watching him execute officials without valid reasons and pursue the development of nuclear weapons.

Mr Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, took office in late 2011 after the death of his dictator father, Kim Jong-il. He has since orchestrated a series of high-profile executions, purges and dismissals in what outside analysts say is an attempt to bol- ster his grip on power. Mr Kim’s pursuit of nuclear weapons has drawn tough international sanctions.

Mr Thae said if North Koreans had more information about their country, it could trigger a public uprising against Mr Kim’s government.

Reportedly under police protection, he said he does not worry about any possible attempts by North Korean agents to kill him.

“I am quite confident that without sacrifice by any individual or any group ... reunification or the elimination of the Kim Jong-un regime cannot be achieved.” Mr Thae is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. In 1997, the ambassador to Egypt fled and resettled in the United States.

Thae Yong-ho said he was lucky to have his sons in London, unlike other diplomats who are forced to leave children at home as hostages