South Korea confirms that Cho Sung-gil, North Korea’s chargé d’affaires to Italy, defected to South Korea last year.

In the past few days, the Korean government has been trying to make the world a better place to live.

He said that Cho Seong-gil had repeatedly expressed his intention to go into exile in South Korea, and that he had left the country with his wife in July last year. He said that he was worried about the safety of his family in North Korea and did not want to disclose the fact that he had defected to South Korea.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported the case to the National Assembly Intelligence Committee. He said that he knew about the situation before the media reported the news about Cho Seong-gil’s entry into Korea, but he did not disclose his motive, route, and current residence for the sake of his safety.

In September 2017, the Italian government expelled the DPRK’s ambassador to Italy, Moon Jong-nam, on the grounds of the DPRK’s sixth nuclear test, and Cho Seong-gil served as chargé d’affaires. In early November 2018, less than a month before his term expired, Cho left the embassy with his wife, whose whereabouts are unknown. Cho Sung-gil is the highest-ranking North Korean official to have lived in exile in South Korea for more than 20 years, following the former secretary of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, Hwang Jang-yeol.