North Korean defector wins Gangnam district seat

A former North Korean diplomat has won a parliamentary seat in South Korea’s swankiest district, four years after fleeing a London embassy and defecting to the South.

Thae Yong Ho was Pyongyang’s deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom where he had managed secret funds for leader Kim Jong Un until he fled to the democratic, wealthy South in 2016.

Thae, 55, won one of three constituencies in Seoul’s glittering Gangnam district for the main opposition conservative party in Wednesday’s parliamentary election, beating a former four-term ruling party lawmaker.

“I was dearly afraid if the Gangnam residents would take a guy from the North,” Thae said in an acceptance speech shared on his YouTube channel, as crowds of voters gathered in his campaign office, chanting his name and cheering.

Gangnam, a wealthy, conservative district known for its boutiques, high-end bars and luxury homes, shot to international renown through musician Psy’s 2012 K-pop hit “Gangnam Style”.

Thae, who had worked in South Korea as a foreign policy expert before launching a bid for parliament in February, is the first North Korean refugee to become a lawmaker representing a constituency in South Korea.

The election drew unprecedented levels of participation from North Korean defectors challenging what they saw as the flawed cross-border policy of President Moon Jae-in.

North Korea’s state media has criticised Thae’s defection, calling him a “human scum” and criminal who had embezzled state funds and sexually assaulted a minor.

Thae has flatly denied those claims and vowed to continue his political activities even after police stepped up security due to safety concerns.

Source: Reuters/Hyonhee Shin