Seoul: High-level North Korean spy and diplomat defected in 2015

SEOUL, April 11 (UPI) -- South Korea said a senior North Korean intelligence official and a diplomat defected to the South in 2015.

According to Seoul's unification and defense ministries, the high-level North Korean spy reported directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean news network YTN reported Monday. He worked for Pyongyang's Reconnaissance General Bureau, an organization key to the North Korean People's Army that is believed to be responsible for the 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures, the land mine provocations at the DMZ in August 2015 and the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, according to Seoul.

The North Korean diplomat who defected in 2015 was stationed at an embassy in an unidentified African country, the unification ministry told reporters.

The diplomat traveled to South Korea with his wife and two sons, and escaped to avoid a purge and "threats to his personal safety," according to Seoul.

The delayed announcement comes after Seoul confirmed last week that a group of 13 North Koreans defected to the South.

The disclosure is inviting criticism from South Korean opposition party politicians, who say the timing of revelations is designed to bolster support for the ruling conservatives in a run-up to legislative elections in the country.

Jeong Joon-hee, the unification ministry spokesman, said, "it's not true" that the timing of the announcement is strategic, despite the fact some of the defections being disclosed occurred last year. Jeong also said the ministry did not make the announcements in coordination with the presidential Blue House.

Kim Sung-soo of the Minjoo Party of Korea, the opposition, said the president's office was intervening in the election by making the series of announcements on recent and previous defections.

South Korean analysts, however, say the announcements are unlikely to affect the election.