More NK Defections

[Anchor Lead]

We begin today’s broadcast with reports that four North Koreans, including a general and a diplomat, have fled the North and are seeking asylum in a third country. The general level official is known to have managed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s slush fund in Southeast Asia. Here’s more.

[Pkg]

A source familiar with North Korean affairs has said that four North Koreans, including a diplomat and a ranking general who managed leader Kim Jong-un's slush fund in Southeast Asia, recently fled the North and are seeking defection in a third country. The source said while the general was in China on a business trip, two other North Koreans escaped the North on July 10th with the help from a North Korean diplomat and they joined the general two days later. The diplomat is known to have parted company with the group and seeking asylum in a third country by himself, while the other three including the general are currently staying in China with plans to defect to another country. The source explained that ranking senior figures who enjoy a stable status in the North Korean society deciding to defect reflects their strong discontent about the Kim Jong-un regime and pessimism over their country's isolation in the world.