Two Top North Korean Officials Defect from Beijing Embassy
More rats fleeing a sinking ship:
Two high-ranking officials from the North Korean embassy in Beijing – including a man who had overseen leader Kim Jong-un’s health care – defected with their families last month, a source well-informed on North Korea revealed.
“On Sept. 28, a heavyweight representative in North Korea’s mission in Beijing – who came from the Health Ministry – escaped with his wife and daughter,” the source exclusively told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday. “This family made contact with the Japanese Embassy in China to begin the procedure to head to Japan.”
The official has relatives in Japan, which was why he chose to defect to Tokyo rather than Seoul.
As a high-ranking Health Ministry official, he would have overseen the Bonghwa Medical Center, which treats North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family, as well as the Namsan Hospital and the Red Cross Hospital. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the health official is fleeing because he is getting blamed for the poor health of Kim Jong-un? It must be a stressful job trying to keep that guy healthy.
