Published on November 2, 2024 at 5:03 p.m. / Modified on November 2, 2024 at 5:13 p.m.
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Top North Korean diplomat Ri Il-kyu defected last year while stationed in Havana
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In Geneva, he recounts his flight and bears witness to the repression of a regime which maintains itself through terror
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The dissident explains the reasons for the rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang. Kim Jong-un supplies his elite troops to Vladimir Putin in exchange for Russian veto at the UN
It is at the South Korean mission to the UN in Geneva that we find Ri Il-kyu. In the company of South Korean diplomats and under the protection of a federal police officer, he delivered his story to a newspaper outside Korea for the first time. He speaks fluently in Spanish and understands French, but it is through an interpreter that he answers the questions of the Temps before taking the plane back to Seoul. His life would be threatened.
Last year, Ri Il-kyu served as political head of Pyongyang’s embassy in Havana. His mission? Prevent Cuba, one of the most secure allies, from establishing diplomatic relations with South Korea. In early November, after informing his wife and daughter six hours earlier, the three of them flew to Seoul. He defected. He is the highest diplomat to flee his country since 2016. A hard blow for Pyongyang, its diplomats abroad being part of the regime’s elite.
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