South Korean 'defects to North' in hugely rare switch

Man says he will honour parents’ ‘dying wishes’ by dedicating life to Kim Jong-un

Choe In-guk announced his surprising defection to the impoverished country with a statement at Pyongyang's international airport (AP)

The son of the most high-profile South Korean ever to defect to North Korea has moved to the authoritarian country to honour his parents’ “dying wishes”, according to the North’s state media.

Uriminzokkiri, a state-run website, reported that Choe In-guk arrived in the capital Pyongyang on Saturday to dedicate his life to Korean unification at the guidance of leader Kim Jong-un.

The website published photos and footage of Mr Choe, who is the son of former South Korean foreign minister Choe Dok-shin, reading his arrival statement at Pyongyang’s international airport.

If confirmed, the move would be a rare case of a defection to North Korea.

Mr Choe said he is more than 70 years old and has decided to defect because it was his parents’ “dying wishes” for him to “follow” North Korea and work for its unification with the South, according to Uriminzokkiri.

Choe Dok-shin defected to the North in 1986 with his wife following political disputes with then-South Korean president Park Chung-hee.

He held high-level posts in North Korea, such as vice chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, before his death in 1989.

Observers have said North Korea has accepted Mr Choe because it hopes to use him as a propaganda tool to convince citizens that its system is superior to the South’s democracy.

While defections to the North have become a rarity in recent years, defections to the South are more common.

More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea to avoid political repression and economic poverty, since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Mr Choe did not have special permission from Seoul’s government to visit the North and authorities were trying to find out details on his travel.

The two Koreas, divided by one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders, bar their citizens from visiting each other’s territory and exchanging phone calls, letters or emails without special permissions.

Choe Dok-shin’s wife, Ryu Mi Yong, joined him in the 1986 defection and also held public office in North Korea.

When she died at the age of 95 in 2016, a public funeral was organised and her body was buried along with her husband’s at Pyongyang’s Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery.

According to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, Choe In-guk was allowed to make 12 authorised trips to North Korea since 2001 for events like visiting his parents’ cemetery and attending a commemoration for the anniversary of his mother’s death.

Although it is not immediately known how he travelled to North Korea, South Korean media has speculated he flew from Beijing, China, with a North Korean government-issued visa.

Agencies contributed to this report