High-ranking NK defector being considered for vice-ministerial post: report

Tae Yong-ho, a former high-ranking North Korean official who defected to South Korea and later became a lawmaker for the conservative ruling People Power Party, could potentially become the first North Korean diplomat-turned-defector to ascend to a vice-ministerial post in South Korea's history, according to a report in local daily Dong-a Ilbo.

Tae, 62, is reportedly being considered as one of the candidates for the position of secretary-general of the presidential Peaceful Unification Advisory Council's Secretariat -- a seat that has been vacant for about six months. The presidential office was not immediately available for comment as of press time.

The secretary-general of the secretariat is a vice-ministerial public official in charge of the administrative affairs of the council. The council advises about South Korea's unification policies and promotes engagement in reunification efforts. President Yoon Suk Yeol is the chair of the council as stipulated in the Constitution.

Tae, who was North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, defected to South Korea in 2016. He served as an adviser at the Institute for National Security Strategy from 2017 to 2018, and wrote "Passcode to the Third Floor: An Insider's Account of Life Among North Korea's Political Elite," a memoir published in Korean in 2018 and translated into English this April, before being elected a lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul's Gangnam-B constituency in 2020.

Tae had sought a second parliamentary term representing the Guro-B constituency in Seoul in the April general election, but he lost to Rep. Youn Kun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

As of December 2023, some 34,000 individuals are estimated to have defected to South Korea from North Korea, with 196 defecting last year, according to the Unification Ministry.

The report came amid speculations that Yoon might carry out a vice-minister-level reshuffle before the end of this week, replacing vice-minister-level posts at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Meanwhile, Jo Ji-ho, the incumbent chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, attended a closed-door meeting of the National Policy Commission as the nominee for the new head of the Korean National Police Agency on Wednesday.