Escape Plan

[Anchor Lead]

A report by South Korea's National Intelligence Service to the National Assembly says that the North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the U.K., Thae Yong-ho, had been preparing his escape for a long time.

[Pkg]

In its report to the National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service said that North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho had prepared for his escape for a long time. Previously it was reported that Thae had two sons and one daughter, but it has been found out that he has only two sons. The report also denied the initial speculation that Thae decided to defect from the North because of Pyongyang's recent order to summon the children of North Korean diplomats who were over 25 years of age. The NIS said that it's nonsense for a high-ranking official to escape because of his children and that Thae had been waiting for an opportunity to escape all this time. The North Korean diplomat apparently decided to flee from the North because of anxiety over Kim Jong-un's terror regime and disillusionment.

[Soundbite] Prof. Nam Joo-hong(Kyonggi University) : "More and more North Koreans are defecting because of the bleak chances of survival back in the North and because they are fed up with the regime. Inevitably, a growing number of the escapees are high-ranking government officials."

The NIS also denied the rumors that Thae Yong-ho brought a large sum of Kim Jong-un's slush funds with him and that his wife visited a shopping mall in the U.K. before their escape. The National Assembly's Intelligence Committee will receive the National Intelligence Service's report on the background of Thae Yong-ho's escape after the probe into his defection ends early next month.