Thae Yong-ho

Thae Yong-ho (Korean: 태영호; Hanja: 太永浩;[2] Korean pronunciation: [tʰɛ.jʌŋ.ɦo], born 25 July 1962), also known by his pseudonym, Tae Ku-min (Korean: 태구민; Hanja: 太救民), is a South Korean politician, defector from North Korea, and former diplomat who is a member of the National Assembly for the Gangnam district of Seoul. He was North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, prior to defecting with his family to South Korea in 2016.[3][4] Thae has been variously described as the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect,[4] and the highest-ranking North Korean defector since the 1997 defection of juche ideologist Hwang Jang-yop.[5] In August 2016, the South Korean government confirmed that Thae and his family were under their protection.[4] Thae was elected to the National Assembly in the 2020 South Korean legislative election as a member of the United Future Party.

In this Korean name, the family name is Thae.
Thae Yong-ho
태영호
Thae testifying at the U.S. Capitol in November 2017
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
30 May 2020
Preceded byLee Jong-gu
ConstituencySeoul, Gangnam A
North Korean Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office
1 June 2006 – 15 August 2016
Supreme LeaderKim Jong-il
Kim Jong-un
Personal details
Born (1962-07-25) 25 July 1962
Pyongyang, North Korea
CitizenshipSouth Korea
Political partyUnited Future Party (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations		Workers' Party of Korea (before 2016)
Spouse(s)O Hye-son
Children2 sons
Known forDefection
Websitewww.thaeyongho.com
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationTae Yeong-ho
McCune–ReischauerT'ae Yŏng-ho
Pseudonym
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationTae Gu-min
McCune–ReischauerT'ae Ku-min

Biography

Pre defection

Thae studied abroad in China at a young age, learning English. He went on to study at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies. Thae began working in the 1980s.[6]

Thae is married to O Hye-son (Korean: 오혜선), a relative of Kim Il-sung's comrade in arms during the 1930s, O Paek-ryong.[7] They have two sons. Their older son is a graduate of a British university,[8] and their younger son, who was born in Denmark, when Thae was serving as a diplomat there, was studying at a London school.[9] The younger son had recently been offered a place to study computer science at Imperial College London.[9] However, the family had been recalled to Pyongyang just before Thae's defection.[10] Thae was able to escape with his wife and children, but his brother and sister were left behind in North Korea.[5] 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."[11][12]

According to BBC reports, Thae is convivial, and enjoys Indian food, playing golf and tennis.[10] In addition to Korean and English, he speaks fluent Mandarin.[13] In 2015, he escorted Kim Jong-chul, the older brother of Kim Jong-un, to an Eric Clapton concert in London.[14] During his time in London, he lived in a two-bedroom flat in West London.[8] 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.[15]

Thae was one of North Korea's elite, regarded by observers as a sophisticated diplomat who was one of the "best and brightest" in the country.[16][17] Following Thae's defection, the North Korean government denounced him as "human scum," accused him without evidence[18] of crimes including embezzlement and child rape, and unsuccessfully petitioned Britain to extradite him to North Korea for trial.[19]

Life after defection

Since his defection, Thae has given many talks and interviews about North Korea's secretive, authoritarian, and violent government.[5] Citing the killings of Kim Jong-nam and Jang Song-thaek, Thae believes that he is likely a target for assassination by Kim Jong-un due to his defection and outspokenness.[5] In an interview in January 2017, Thae stated that the United Nations sanctions on North Korea were hurting the Kim regime, and that it is under significant pressure.[20] 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."[11] Thae believes that "Kim Jong-un's regime one day will collapse by a people's uprising."[11][21] 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.[5]

Thae worked as an adviser at the Institute for National Security Strategy since early 2017, an organization affiliated with the National Intelligence Service, and he resigned from the job out of personal will in May 2018.[22] He makes videos for the website Daily NK.[23]

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.[24][25] 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.[26][27] He also equated the North Korean regime to that of apartheid-era South Africa and Nazi Germany.

In May 2018, Thae published Cryptography From the Third-Floor Secretariat (Korean: 3층 서기실의 암호; Hanja: 3層 書記室의 暗號), a memoir of his life as a North Korean diplomat.[28] The book became a bestseller in South Korea.[29] 10,000 copies of the first print run were sold in four days.[30] It is a rare example of a book written by a North Korean defector becoming a bestseller in South Korea. 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".[31]

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 Tae Ku-min (태구민), 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.[32]

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.[33]

Works
  • Thae Yong-ho (2018). 3층 서기실의 암호 [Cryptography From the Third-Floor Secretariat] (in Korean). Seoul: Giparang. ISBN 978-8-96523-650-4.
  • Thae Yong-ho (2020). 태영호의 서울생활 [Thae Yong-ho's Life in Seoul] (in Korean). Seoul: Giparang. ISBN 9788965236061.

See also

References
  1. "朝公使太永浩投诚或由韩英情报机构联手促成". chinese.yonhapnews.co.kr (in Chinese). Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  2. @uni_kr (17 August 2016). "태영호 공사는" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "North Korea's deputy ambassador defects in London: reports". Reuters. 2016-08-17.
  4. "North Korea diplomat defects to South". BBC News. 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  5. Lester Holt & Alexander Smith, North Korean Defector Tells Lester Holt 'World Should be Ready', NBC News (3 April 2017).
  6. Lauler, Robert (15 August 2018). "Dual Perspective: Reading Thae Yong-ho". Sino-NK. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  7. Kang Jin-kyu; Jeong Yong-soo (19 August 2016). "Defector is son of former comrade of Kim Il Sung". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. Harding, Luke; Nagapetyants, Dina (2016-08-17). "North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho was 'sick and tired of regime'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  9. Harding, Luke (2016-08-17). "High-ranking North Korean diplomat in London defects to South Korea". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  10. Evans, Steve (16 August 2016). "My friend the North Korean defector". BBC News.
  11. People will rise against N Korean regime, says defector, BBC News (25 January 2017).
  12. Thae Yong-ho: Interview with a North Korean defector Al Jazeera, 101 East, 4 May 2017.
  13. Rothwell, James (20 August 2016). "Revealed: Secret lives of the North Korean diplomats tucked away in a London surburb [sic]". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  14. Choe, Sang-hun; Gladstone, Rick (2016-08-17). "North Korea's No. 2 Diplomat in London Defects to the South". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  15. The Incredible Guts of Thae Yong-ho, National Review, July 8, 2019
  16. Blair, David (17 August 2016). "North Korea's 'tough' and 'sophisticated' deputy ambassador in London defects to the South". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  17. "North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho was among Pyongyang's 'best and brightest'". South China Morning Post. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-08-20.
  18. Sang-Hun, Choe (20 August 2016). "North Korea Says Diplomat Who Defected Is 'Human Scum'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  19. "North Korea calls UK-based defector 'human scum'". BBC News. 2016-08-20. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  20. Paula Hancocks (25 January 2017). "Kim Jong Un wants to meet Trump, says defector". CNN.
  21. Thae Yong-ho: Interview with a North Korean defector Al Jazeera, 101 East, May 4, 2017
  22. "High-profile defector quits state-sponsored job". Korea Joongang Daily. May 25, 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  23. "Fast and Accurate North Korea News". Daily NK. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  24. Thae Yong-ho Prepared Testimony, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations (1 November 2017).
  25. North Korea defector urges US to use soft power. BBC New (2 November 2017).
  26. "North Korean Defector Testifies House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing". C-SPAN.org.
  27. B.R. Myers (20 December 2017). "North Korea's Unification Drive".
  28. Sang-Hun, Choe (23 May 2018). "Book Explores Kim Jong-un's Feelings About His Mother, and Other Family Tales". The New York Times. The 542-page book, titled “Cryptography From the Third-Floor Secretariat,” recounts Mr. Thae’s life as a North Korean diplomat before he fled to South Korea in 2016, becoming one of the highest-profile defectors from the North in years.
  29. "Defector's book becomes best-seller in Korea". Yonhap. 2018-05-25.
  30. "Senior Defector's Memoir Sells out". 18 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  31. Lankov, Andrei (2 July 2018). "Thae Yong-ho's memoir: some key points". NK News. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  32. Choe, Sang-Hun (19 February 2020). "Ex-North Korean Diplomat Runs for South Korean Parliament". The New York Times.
  33. "North Korean defectors say sorry after false Kim Jong-un speculation". The Guardian. Reuters. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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