defection

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North Korea Suffers Another High-Level Defection: Seoul

Diplomat Ri Il Kyu, stationed in Cuba, fled to South Korea

(Newser) - South Korea's spy agency said Tuesday that a senior North Korea diplomat based in Cuba has fled to South Korea, the latest defection by a member of the North's elite, reports the AP . The National Intelligence Service confirmed the defection of a North Korean counselor of political affairs...

He Became Obsessed as a Boy at Fleeing North Korea

BBC shares gripping story of man who dreamed for years of escaping to the South, then finally did it

(Newser) - When a defector fled from North Korea earlier this year with his family, it was the fulfillment of a scheme he'd been planning for seven months. Now, the BBC has the story of what it describes as a "seemingly impossible escape," with as many dangerous obstacles as...

This Is an Unusual Way to Defect to South Korea

4 suspected defectors from North Korea found in small wooden boat in South Korean waters

(Newser) - Four North Koreans were found in a small wooden boat in South Korean waters on Tuesday in what's likely a rare case of North Koreans taking a risky sea voyage to flee to the South, Seoul officials said. More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea...

Taiwan Soldier Vanished During Roll Call. He Just Reemerged

Missing soldier turns up on Chinese mainland; it's still unclear if he's a deserter

(Newser) - During roll call on Thursday on the island of Erdan, located just a few miles off of China's coast, a Taiwanese soldier was reported missing. Now, he's apparently reemerged, and not on Erdan, part of the Taiwan-run Kinmen islands in the Taiwan Strait. "It has been confirmed...

Man Who Crossed DMZ Into North Korea Believed to Be Gymnast

He is believed to have first defected from North to South last year

(Newser) - Update: The person who crossed the DMZ to enter North Korea over the weekend is a male gymnast, Seoul says. He is believed to have defected from North to South Korea last year, and on Saturday made his way back, the BBC reports. Why he did so is not clear,...

This Is the Largest Cuban Athlete Defection in Years

9 baseball players defect during tournament in Mexico

(Newser) - While playing in a tournament in Mexico this weekend, nine members of a Cuban baseball team defected. While Cuban athletes have a history of defecting while competing in other countries, this was the largest athlete defection in years, the BBC reports. The Cuban government confirmed the defections Sunday, calling them...

It Was Close to Midnight Near the DMZ. Then, a Rare Sight

North Korean soldier picked up by South Korean troops after being spotted by thermal imaging

(Newser) - Although it's common for North Koreans to try to make a run for the South, what's not as common are defections across the Demilitarized Zone, which is littered with guards, landmines, barbed wire, and other barriers. But that's apparently what a North Korean soldier did this week,...

Official Seethes Over Daughter 'Snatched Off the Streets'

Seems North Korea repatriated Jo Song Gil's daughter from Italy

(Newser) - "Those responsible for this will pay." A seething Italian official made that claim amid reports North Korea had snatched back the daughter of a diplomat who may have defected to the West, Reuters reports. Talk of the possible defection surfaced after Jo Song Gil, North Korea's acting...

North Korea's Ambassador to Italy May Have Defected

Jo Song Gil has applied for asylum in a Western country: reports

(Newser) - North Korea may have a high-profile defection on its hands. The country’s acting ambassador to Italy, Jo Song Gil, apparently fled the North Korean embassy in Rome with his wife weeks ago, before he was to leave his post at the end of November. That's according to South...

North Korean Waitresses Were Forced to 'Defect'

Former restaurant manager bares all on cable TV

(Newser) - A famous North Korean defection may have actually been a kidnapping engineered by the South—news that comes at a slightly awkward moment for the two Koreas, the New York Times reports. A South Korean cable TV channel broke the news Thursday, saying the apparent defection of 12 waitresses and...

Shots Fired as N. Korea Soldier Defects Through DMZ

Defector walked through thick fog to checkpoint

(Newser) - For the second time in two months, shots have been fired during a North Korean soldier's defection across the DMZ—and this time, it was South Koreans doing the shooting. The South Korean military says the "low ranking" soldier was manning a guard post before he walked across...

North Korea Tightens Border in Low-Tech Fashion
North Korea Makes Changes
at Border After Defection
the rundown
Nov 24, 2017 10:34 AM CST

North Korea Makes Changes at Border After Defection

Soldiers dig a trench, plant trees

(Newser) - North Korea is trying to make sure that no others will be able to defect the way that a young soldier did last week . The fixes aren't exactly high-tech: North Korean soldiers were seen digging a big trench in the border area where the soldier first drove and then...

Dramatic Footage of Defector's Escape Released

North Korean soldier runs for his life as former comrades open fire

(Newser) - Dramatic video of a North Korean soldier defecting across the DMZ last week reveals just how narrow the man's escape was. The soldier can be seen fleeing in a military vehicle, which races toward the border down empty roads. The defector is seen abandoning the vehicle after it...

As He Ran Across the DMZ, His Fellow Soldiers Shot Him

Incident happened Monday in the Joint Security Area in the DMZ

(Newser) - If it sounds like an unusual event, that's because it is: A North Korea solider was shot and wounded in the demilitarized zone Monday afternoon while trying to defect to the South. The bullets came via "his former comrades," as CNN puts it, and struck him in...

Kim Jong Un Reportedly Hit By More Defections

Gov't says asylum seekers haven't contacted Japan

(Newser) - One or two officials may have followed the lead of a diplomat in London and defected from North Korea. A Health Ministry official stationed at North Korea's embassy in Beijing—tasked with sourcing medical supplies for a clinic visited by Kim Jong Un and his family—has reportedly sought...

North Korea Suffers 'Highest-Ranking' Defection

Thae Yong Ho has defected to South Korea

(Newser) - A North Korean diplomat stationed in London vanished in mid-July, and Seoul is now explaining why: Thae Yong Ho has defected to South Korea, in what the BBC reports could be the "highest-ranking" defection North Korea has experienced. The New York Times calls Thae the "No. 2" official...

N. Korea Honcho Defects in 'Coup' for S. Korea: Reports

He's said to be the highest-ranking military official to ever defect to South

(Newser) - On Friday, South Korea announced that 13 North Korean employees from a restaurant in China had defected into its fold, the AP reports. On Monday, the country added a pair of North Korean officials, one of whom is reportedly a spy-savvy army colonel, in what Reuters calls a "coup...

Syria Using Advanced Iranian Missiles: US

Meanwhile, two Syrian air force generals defect, Russia may meet opposition

(Newser) - The Syrian military has fired two missiles in the past week that US officials believe are a newer, more-accurate model from Iran. These Fateh A-110 missiles have less range than the Scud variants the regime has been relying on, with a maximum distance of 125 miles versus 185. But they...

Syria's Chief of Military Police Defects, Joins Opposition

Latest high-profile defection another setback to Assad regime

(Newser) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad suffered another high-profile defection last night, as the head of the Syrian military police declared he had switched to the rebels, reports the Guardian . Major General Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal said he was joining the "people's revolution" on al-Arabiya TV, although it was unclear when...

Ex-PM: Assad Only Controls 30% of Syria

'The regime is falling apart,' Riad Hijab says

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad's days sound awfully numbered if you listen to ex-Prime Minister Riad Hijab. "The regime is falling apart morally, materially, economically," the defector told reporters in Jordan today. "Its military is rusting and it controls only 30% of Syria's territory." Hijab wasn't...

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