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| ▲ The State Department in Washington (Yonhap) |
NK diplomat-defection
State Dept. says 'no surprise' over N.K. diplomat's defection
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, July 18 (Yonhap) -- A State Department spokesperson said Thursday that it should be "no surprise" that North Koreans want to leave their homeland in search for basic human rights and freedom, after a North Korean diplomat was reported to have defected to South Korea.
Vedant Patel, the department's deputy spokesperson, made the remarks as South Korea's National Intelligence Service has confirmed that Ri Il-gyu, who had served as the counselor of political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba, entered South Korea with his family in November.
"It certainly should come as no surprise that there are people in North Korea who want to leave the crushing oppression of the DPRK regime. Specifically though, I don't have anything to offer on that process," Patel said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"From our vantage point, it should be no surprise that there are members of the North Korean community who want desperately to be somewhere where their basic human rights are protected, where they have ease of access to democracy and basic human rights principles and freedoms," he added.
Ri's defection was the latest in a growing number of defections by North Korean elites -- a possible sign of their discontent with the North Korean regime bent on its weapons programs amid chronic food shortages.
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