Senior North Korean diplomat defects to South

Seoul’s spy agency said on Tuesday that North Korean diplomat Ri Il Kyu has defected to South Korea (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

South Korea’s spy agency said on Tuesday that a senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba has fled to South Korea, the latest defection by members of the North’s ruling elite that is likely to have hit leader Kim Jong Un’s push to bolster his leadership.

The National Intelligence Service confirmed that media reports on the defection of a North Korean counsellor of political affairs in Cuba are true, but a brief statement by the NIS public affairs office gave no further details.