The former acting North Korean ambassador to Kuwait, Ryu Hyun-woo, who defected to South Korea with his Family in 2019, recently gave his first media interview recalling the situation.
The former acting ambassador of North Korea to Italy, Cho Sung-gil, defected to South Korea two months later, Ryu Hyun-woo defected to South Korea with his family in September 2019, but the news was not revealed until last week, CNN (CNN) broadcast an interview today (1), which is also his first interview with the media after leaving the North.
The company said that his teenage daughter was “shocked” by the sudden change of Life proposal, but then replied “yes”, and then he took his family to the South Korean Embassy in Kuwait. After spending more than a year in South Korea, Yoo asked his daughter what she liked best about her new Home, and she answered that she could access the Internet at will.
Now, Yoo is worried about the safety of his other family members, as he and his wife have several relatives still in North Korea. It is well known that if an official defects, his family will be punished by association, so his three siblings, his 83-year-old mother, his father-in-law and mother-in-law are in danger of retaliation. The company also shed tears when talking about its relatives.
It is reported that Yoo Hyun-woo comes from an elite North Korean family, and his father-in-law, Jon Il Chun, was in charge of Office 39, the so-called “vault” of the Kim family. Ryu became acting ambassador in September of 2017 after the then ambassador to Kuwait was expelled from the United Nations in response to North Korea’s nuclear tests.
As a former insider, Ryu noted that international sanctions are having an impact on the short-funded North Korean government, “The current sanctions against North Korea are unprecedented and have a role to play… I think the sanctions against North Korea should continue.”
He also mentioned that nuclear weapons are the lifeline of North Korea’s Kim regime and that current leader Kim Jong-un will not give them up. He believes North Korea may be willing to negotiate nuclear reductions in exchange for reduced international sanctions, but is unlikely to give them up completely.
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