Defections of high-level North Korean officials are telltale symptoms of internal difficulties Posted : 2021-01-28 15:57 Updated : 2021-01-29 10:27 People hold a campaign in Pyongyang, North Korea, to uphold the decisions made at the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, Jan. 20. / Yonhap By Do Je-hae The arrival in South Korea of a former acting ambassador at the North Korean Embassy in Kuwait just over a year ago has renewed attention to a series of defections to the South by high-level diplomats under Kim Jong-un's rule. Some South Korean media reports said that Ryu Hyun-woo, who led the North Korean mission in Kuwait since the 2017 expulsion of former Ambassador So Chang-sik, arrived in the South in September 2019 and has settled here. The authorities have yet to confirm these reports, although Ryu's arrival was relayed to the media by other former North Korean diplomats who defected, such as Rep. Tae Yong-ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in the U.K. and now representative of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).