SEOUL, South Korea — The son of the highest-profile South Korean to defect to North Korea has arrived in the North to permanently resettle, North Korean state media said. South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Choe In-guk was in North Korea without special permission from the Seoul government to visit the North. A small number of South Koreans suffering economic hardship at home have gone to North Korea to live in past years, but North Korea is known to have repatriated such people. The Unification Ministry said North Korea returned two South Koreans who entered North Korea last year, but it didn’t elaborate. It wasn’t immediately known how he went to North Korea, but South Korean media speculated he flew from Beijing with a North Korean government-issued visa.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 08, 2019 11:15 UTC