North Korean Defector Runs For South Korean Parliament

Thae Yong-Ho defected with his wife and two sons to South Korea in 2016. (Wikimedia Commons)

Thae Yong-Ho has become the first high-profile North Korean official to run for election to South Korea’s parliament, which will take place on April 15, AsiaNews reported. Thae formerly served as North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom before defecting to South Korea with his wife and two children in 2016.

Within the last two decades, approximately 33,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea. Most have been women from rural areas escaping poverty with their children, while only a few have previously served in the North Korean government. Thae is currently the second-highest North Korean official to defect, according to ABC News.

When questioned about his run for Parliament, Thae brought up two fishermen who were suspected murderers of their abusive captain and fifteen fellow sailors on a squid-catching ship. 

The decision to repatriate them alarmed many North Korean defectors at the time, including Thae. He said the South Korean government’s unprecedented move to repatriate the two North Korean fishermen in the fall of 2019 motivated him to represent fellow and future defectors, Public Radio International (PRI) reported. 

According to the New York Times, he compared the South Korean government to someone who refuses to help a drowning man due to his criminal history. Thae announced that he would implement a law requiring the South Korean government to accept all defectors regardless of criminal history.

Ever since his defection in 2016, Thae has gradually become more vocal about protecting the human rights of the 33,523 North Korean defectors currently residing in South Korea. This culminated in his decision to join the conservative opposition party, United Future Party. 

According to AsiaNews, Thae expects to run in Gangnam, a wealthy constituency that is traditionally conservative. 

Critical of President Moon Jae-in’s approach to North Korea, Thae described Moon’s attempts to mediate U.S.-North Korea relations as “unrealistic,” reported ABC News. He also described Trump’s approach to North Korea as a “total failure and diplomatic catastrophe.”

However, Thae’s campaign still emphasizes working toward reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

According to ABC News, the former North Korean official identified his campaign as an opportunity to show thousands of North Koreans how democracy works. In an interview, he said that “[his] campaign... can be a game-changing opportunity for [the] peninsula.”

Optimistically, Thae predicts North Korea’s elites will observe the elections via their smartphones and relay their experience to relatives back in North Korea.

Thae’s campaign will likely face opposition both abroad and in South Korea. Thae revealed to ABC News that China has banned him from entering the country due to its policy of repatriation and hostility toward North Korean defectors. In South Korea, he faces questions from the ruling party, who argue that Thae’s platform runs counter to Moon’s policies toward North Korea.