Kim Jong Un’s North Korea dealt blow as senior official defects to South

A North Korean diplomat has defected from the Kim Jong Un regime, the highest-ranking official to do so in eight years.

“My disgust with the North Korean system, my pessimism about the bleak future, and my desire to escape from this society were the starting points that made me think about defecting from North Korea,” Ri Il Kyu, who served as a political counselor at the North Korean embassy in Cuba until his November defection told South Korean news outlet the Chosun Ilbo in an exclusive interview published Tuesday.

In 2016, there was a series of defections by diplomats, including Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy ambassador to the U.K.

This is a developing story and will be updated.