Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 4 January 2019
North Korean envoy to Italy vanishes, did he defect?

By FRANCES D'EMILIO One factory produced
KIM TONG-HYUNG bathroom furnishings and
Associated Press another made accessories
ROME (AP) — North Ko- from marble. The newspa-
rea's top diplomat in Italy per quoted the local busi-
has gone into hiding along nessmen as assuming at first
with his wife, according to the delegation consisted of
a South Korean lawmaker, South Koreans, not North
raising the possibility of a Koreans, given the eco-
defection of a senior North nomic sanctions against
Korean official. North Korea.
The news came from South Among the Italians accom-
Korea's spy agency, which panying the North Koreans
briefed lawmakers in Seoul was a former Italian senator
on Thursday on the status for what is now the League
of North Korea's acting am- party, which in general op-
bassador to Italy, Jo Song poses economic embar-
Gil. It said he went into hid- goes as bad for business.
ing with his wife in Novem- The politician, Valentino
ber before his posting to It- Perin, told AP he had spo-
aly ended late that month. ken with Jo many times, in-
A high-profile defection by cluding about preparations
one of North Korea's elite for the visit to the Veneto
would be a huge embar- An external view of the North Korean embassy in Rome, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2018. region. Perin said he last
rassment for leader Kim Associated Press met with Jo on Sept. 5, at
Jong Un as he pursues di- an official reception orga-
plomacy with Seoul and agency revealed anything before his term was to end. dermine its government. nized by the North Korean
Washington and seeks to about Jo's current where- Kim said he couldn't con- About 30,000 North Ko- embassy in Rome.
portray himself as a geopo- abouts or whether he had firm if the NIS official re- reans have defected to Showing Jo's business card,
litical player. plans to defect to South vealed whether Jo and his South Korea since the end Perin said the North Korean
South Korean lawmaker Korea. wife were accompanied of the 1950-53 Korean War, was "very proud of his peo-
Kim Min-ki said an official Kim said the NIS said it has by any children. The NIS according to South Korean ple and of his country.
from Seoul's National In- not been contacted by Jo. earlier said it couldn't con- government figures. The last senior North Korean
telligence Service shared According to Kim, the NIS firm a South Korean media Many defectors have said diplomat known to have
the information during a official said Jo and his wife report that Jo was under they wanted to leave North defected is Thae Yong Ho,
closed-door briefing. Kim left the official residence Italian government protec- Korea's harsh political sys- a former minister at the
did not say whether the spy in early November, weeks tion as he seeks asylum in a tem and widespread pov- North Korean Embassy in
Western nation. erty. North Korea often ac- London, who fled to South
North Korea has not yet cuses the South of deceiv- Korea in 2016.
commented on Jo's status. ing or paying people to In an interview on South Ko-
An official with the Ital- defect, or claims that they rean television, Thae said
ian Foreign Ministry said have been kidnapped. he worked with Jo for more
Thursday that Jo hadn't re- North Korea may publicly than a decade in the North
quested asylum from Italy. ignore Jo's possible defec- Korean Foreign Ministry's
The official, who spoke on tion or hold back harsh Europe bureau and that Jo
condition of anonymity in criticism to avoid highlight- had a child when Thae last
line with standard practice, ing the vulnerability of its saw him in 2013.
also said Jo no longer held government as it tries to Thae said Jo comes from
diplomatic status in Italy, engage Washington and a family of diplomats, with
presumably since his as- Seoul in negotiations, said his father and father-in-law
signment had ended. Koh Yu-hwan, a North Ko- both serving as ambassa-
Without citing any sources, rea expert at Seoul's Dong- dors.
Italian daily La Repubblica guk University. The embassy in Italy is
raised the possibility that Jo had been North Ko- critical for North Korea
while the Foreign Minis- rea's acting ambassador because it handles an-
try was saying Jo hadn't to Rome after Italy ex- nual negotiations with the
sought asylum from Italy, pelled then-Ambassador Rome-based World Food
that didn't rule out that the Mun Jong Nam in October Program over aid to North
North Korean might have 2017 to protest a North Ko- Korea, Thae said. He also
turned to other offices, rean nuclear test and long- said Italy has been a hub
such as Italian intelligence range missile launch. for smuggling luxury items
agencies for "assistance Jo seemed comfortable to the North Korean elite,
from Italy in order not to re- moving around Italy. In and Jo would have been
turn to his country." March 2018, accompa- involved in those activities.
North Korea, which touts it- nied by another embassy Thae said Jo would have
self as a socialist paradise, official, Pak Myong Gil, he been North Korea's main
is extremely sensitive about visited two factories in Ita- diplomat for the Vatican
defections, especially ly's northeastern Veneto re- and would have also han-
among its elite diplomatic gion with an eye on even- dled discussions involving
corps, and has previously tual trade, according to La a possible visit to the North
insisted that they are South Tribuna di Treviso, a local by Pope Francis if such talks
Korean or U.S. plots to un- daily. had taken place. q