Thae Yong-ho

Defection and aftermath He was North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom until August 2016, defecting with his family to South Korea. Following his defection, the North Korean government denounced him as "human scum", accused him without evidence of crimes including embezzlement and child rape, and unsuccessfully petitioned Britain to extradite him to North Korea for trial.

Since his defection, Thae has given many talks and interviews about North Korea's government, which he describes as violent and controlling. In another interview the same month, Thae said, "I am very determined to do everything possible to pull down the regime to save not only my family members but also the whole North Korean people from slavery." In an interview in April 2017, Thae stated that Kim was "desperate in maintaining his rule" and was relying heavily on its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deter an external attack and preserve his grip on power. He makes videos for the website Daily NK.

Thae testified before the US House Foreign Relations Committee in November 2017. Thae advised the use of soft power, such as disseminating outside information, to weaken Kim Jong Un's rule. He stated that the North Korean regime wants nuclear weapons in order to intimidate the U.S. into withdrawing its military forces from South Korea, thus weakening South Korea. He also equated the North Korean regime to that of apartheid-era South Africa and Nazi Germany.

In May 2018, Thae published Passcode to the Third Floor , a memoir detailing his life as a high-ranking North Korean diplomat. Thae wrote the book at the strong urging of Ahn Byung-hoon, the founder of Guiparang Publishing, who believed that Thae’s experiences must be documented as a historical record. The publication process reportedly faced significant opposition and delays from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under the Moon Jae-in administration, which was cautious about the disclosure of sensitive information during a period of inter-Korean diplomacy. Despite these hurdles, Ahn's persistence led to the successful release of the memoir, which became a massive bestseller in South Korea, selling over 140,000 copies within its first two months. The memoir was described by Andrei Lankov as "a remarkably balanced and unbiased text" and it "writes about the North Korean system in a slightly detached way, describing how things are done but never going into a righteous frenzy of moralistic outrage". However, Fyodor Tertitskiy's review in Pacific Affairs said that the book suffers from translation flaws, a selectively self-aggrandising narrative, and limited accessibility for general readers, despite offering valuable insights into North Korean diplomacy and internal politics. In 2019, Thae encouraged another defector Jo Song-gil to come to South Korea after he defected in Italy.

Political career

In February 2020, Thae ran for a seat representing the Gangnam District of Seoul in the National Assembly in South Korea's parliamentary elections in April 2020. During his campaign, Thae ran under the pseudonym Thae Ku-min , Ku-min meaning "saving the people [of North Korea]". Despite initially facing skepticism regarding his campaign and having no connection to the Gangnam District, Thae easily beat his opponent, becoming the first North Korean defector to win a National Assembly seat through a constituency vote.

In May 2020, Thae apologised for claiming Kim Jong Un was probably so ill, he could not stand during a three week period, when Kim was not seen in public. The Democratic Party criticised Thae for carelessness, with some members urging that Thae should be excluded from the intelligence and defence committees.

On 10 May 2023, he voluntarily resigned from the People's Power Supreme Council.

On 18 July 2024, President Yoon nominated Thae as the secretary-general of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.

Personal life Thae is married to Oh Hye-son , a relative of Kim Il Sung's comrade in arms during the 1930s, O Paek-ryong. They have two sons. Their older son is a graduate of a British university, However, the family had been recalled to Pyongyang just before Thae's defection. Thae was able to escape with his wife and children, but his brother and sister were left behind in North Korea. Thae stated after his defection that "I'm sure that my relatives and my brothers and sisters are either sent to remote, closed areas or to prison camps, and that really breaks my heart."

According to BBC reports, Thae is convivial, and enjoys Indian food, playing golf and tennis. In 2015, he escorted Kim Jong-chul, the older brother of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, to an Eric Clapton concert in London. During his time in London, he lived in a two-bedroom flat in West London. Thae stated that he defected as he did not want his children, who were used to a life of freedom in Britain, to live a life of oppression in North Korea.

Works