Residents kept in dark on Thae Yong Ho’s defection

The defection of North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the UK, Thae Yong Ho, and his family has garnered worldwide attention, but the news has yet to spread within the North, Daily NK has learned.

“Some cadres and residents near the border area have heard talk of a family from our [North Korean] embassy in the UK defecting,” a source from North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday in telephone conversation. “But the vast majority of residents don’t know the details of the incident, and no major rumors are circulating.”

He added that those aware of the incident learned of it by secretly tuning into TV programming based in the Yanbian Autonomous Korean Prefecture of China, or during telephone conversations with individuals outside of the country. Even then, however, few have shown much interest in the case, and as such related particulars–namely, when, why, and how the escape took place–remain in short supply. 

“Defections and smuggling goods across the river are fairly commonplace occurrences in border regions, which is to say that, in the absence of details about the high-profile nature of the case, most [who have heard of it] just lump it in with every other escape,” the source explained. 

However, he added, “If the state were to hold political lectures, as it did 20 years ago when Hwang Jang Yop defected, branding [Thae and his family] as traitors, such news would spread like wildfire.”

On the other hand, North Korea’s outward-facing media apparatus has been hard at work. A number of days after South Korea broke news of Thae’s defection, North Korea released commentary through the state-run Korean Central News Agency [KCNA] referring to the deputy ambassador, amongst other things, as a “criminal” who betrayed his own country. 

Unsurprisingly, this same message was not conveyed through portals accessible to the general public, including the Party-run publication Rodong Sinmun or Korean Central Television [KCTV]. Moreover, that few residents are familiar with Thae and his status as a high-level official may be another factor precluding the story from making the rounds, according to the source.

An additional source in Kangwon Province reported that she had “no idea” about Thae Yong Ho’s defection and verified that no related political lectures have taken place in that region. 

“The state is likely worried about the serious political implications of the news. Even compared to other cases of high-level defections, a diplomat and his family escaping together is very significant,” she explained upon discovery of the high-level defection through her conversation with Daily NK. 
Disseminating information about the incident to the population could “fundamentally alter public perception of defectors,” she added. 

“Most people generally regard defectors as traitors and/or individuals from subordinate backgrounds who left for economic reasons. But defections of loyal core elites like this one offer an alternative narrative–one that reflects the problems and difficulties of the regime, and could in turn encourage people to question, ‘Why not me, too?’”