The son of a former South Korean government minister defected to North Korea. The first case of a South Korean citizen's desertion to North Korea. It is even rarer for such high-profile Korean citizens to defect to North Korea. The defector is #Choe In-guk, son of Choe Deok-sin, who served as South Korea's foreign minister in the 70s under South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee. Choe was an American-trained army officer who served under US command in the Korean War. He then worked as a cabinet member and as South Korean ambassador to West Germany.
But in the 1980, Choe had fallen out of favor with the South Korean military government and was subsequently ousted by the Democratic Republican party of Korea. He moved to the United States with his wife, Ryu Mi-yong. Shortly after his defection, Choe was appointed director of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Homeland of North Korea under the Korean Workers' Party (WPK). Until his death in 2012, Ryu served as president of the Chondoist Chongu Party, a North Korean nationalist party that supports WPK policies.
North Korean media reported that Choe In-guk, the son of Choe and Ryu, arrived at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on 6 July. North Korean state news website Uriminzokkiri posted several photos of Choe, 73, greeted by a welcoming committee of North Korean government officials with giveaways of flowers and gifts. Choe is said to have given a short speech upon his arrival in Pyongyang, praising the North Korean leader and complaining that he had never deserted before in his life. The defector added that he intends to devote the rest of his life to continuing his parents' work and pushing for the reunification of the two Koreas.
On Sunday, the South Korean Unified Ministry confirmed that Choe had defected to North Korea from the United States. The ministry also said Choe has not obtained permission to travel to North Korea, which is required of all South Korean citizens wishing to cross the border between the two countries. It appears that Choe first traveled to the United States and then to a third country, particularly China, before entering North Korea. South Korean officials announced that an investigation into his defection has been launched.
