Missing North Korean Ambassador Living in South Korea
Seoul: A North Korean diplomat who disappeared in Italy has defected and is living in South Korea, a lawmaker says.
Jo Song-gil, North Korea's acting ambassador to Italy who went missing in 2018, had been in the South since July 2019, South Korea's parliamentary intelligence committee chief said.
If confirmed, Mr Jo would be the most senior defector since 1997.
However there is concern for his teenage daughter, who is said to have returned to the North.
Italy's foreign ministry says she was repatriated to the North in February 2019 at her own request after her parents went missing.
He disappeared with his wife after leaving the embassy without notice in November 2018, just before his term as North Korea's acting ambassador to Italy was due to end.
Reports at the time said the diplomat - the son and son-in-law of high-ranking North Korean officials was seeking asylum under the protection of Western governments.
On Tuesday an opposition South Korean lawmaker said on Facebook that Mr Jo was in the South with his wife and living under protection. On Thursday Jeon Hae-cheol, chairman of the National Assembly's intelligence committee, confirmed this was the case.
"Former acting Ambassador Jo came to South Korea voluntarily in July 2019," Mr Jeon said, adding: "He had repeatedly expressed his wish to come to South Korea."
The country's intelligence agencies have not yet commented.
