North Korea diplomat flees to South in highest ranking envoy defection since 2016

People look at North Korea from the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju. A North Korean diplomat based in Cuba has become the highest ranking to defect to the South since 2016. Photograph: Ahn Young-joon/AP

A senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba defected to South Korea in November, becoming the highest-ranking North Korean diplomat to escape to the South since 2016.

Without giving any further details, South Korea’s spy agency the National Intelligence Service confirmed an earlier report by the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, which said that a counsellor responsible for political affairs at the North Korean embassy in Cuba had defected.