South Korea said Monday a North
Korean colonel in charge of spy operations had defected to the South, along
with a diplomat and three family members.
The army colonel had handled
espionage targeting South Korea at the North's General Bureau of Reconnaissance
before arriving in Seoul last year, the South's Yonhap news agency said. Unification
and defence ministry spokesmen in Seoul confirmed the report but declined to
give details such as the officer's name and exact date of defection.
"He is the highest-level
military official to have ever defected to the South," said a government
official quoted by Yonhap.
The officer is believed to have
given details about the bureau's operations against South Korea to authorities
in Seoul, the unidentified official said.
The unification ministry
spokesman also confirmed a report by Dong-A Ilbo daily on Monday that a North
Korean diplomat posted in an African nation had defected to Seoul last May with
three family members.