South Korea on that North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain had defected to Seoul, in a rare and major loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang. The last such case was that of the North Korean ambassador to Egypt who defected to the United States in 1997. South Korea' JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, which first reported Thae's defection yesterday, said he had been under pressure from Pyongyang to combat growing international criticism of North Korea's human rights record. A North Korean army colonel who had handled spying operations on South Korea was announced to have defected last year. The Unification Ministry said Thae's defection reflected the loss of faith among North Korea's elite in Kim Jong-Un's leadership.

Source: dna August 17, 2016 18:00 UTC