SEOUL, July 08 (BBC): The son of high-profile South Korean defectors is reported to have moved to North Korea, in a rare case of someone seeking to settle in the dictatorship.
Choe In-guk is the son of a South Korean ex-foreign minister who defected to the North with his wife in 1986.
According to North Korean state media he will live in the North and work on reunification issues.
Defections this way are very rare. It is more common for people from the North to try to escape to the South.
The two countries are technically still at war and South Koreans need permission to visit the North.
South Korea's Unification Ministry confirmed that Mr Choe did not request such permission for his trip.
"It's not yet clear how exactly his defection came about," Oliver Hotham of specialist news site NK News, based in Seoul, told the BBC.
"But it would be fairly simple for a South Korean to get to the North if they had the regime's blessing by travelling through China."
However if Mr Choe has violated South Korean law by not seeking permission from his government, he could potentially be arrested if he ever returned to the South, experts say.
Mr Choe is a 73-year-old South Korean citizen, but little is known about his personal life or political views. He has a wife and daughter in the South.
His parents, however, were the most high-profile South Koreans to defect to the North since the end of the Korean War.
Mr Choe's arrival in Pyongyang was reported by the North's state media, which showed him being warmly received by North Korean officials.
He is cited on the North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri as saying: "To live in and follow a country for which I feel thankful is a path to protect the will left by my parents.
"So I've decided to permanently live in North Korea, albeit belatedly."
South Korean media outlets report that Mr Choe did not have an easy life in the South and had to fight the stigma of being the "son of traitor".
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
