A former North Korean diplomat won a seat in the constituency in the parliamentary elections in South Korea. This is the first case among tens of thousands of North Korean citizens who escaped from the authoritarian state.
Tae Yeon Ho, a former diplomat of the Embassy of North Korea in London, escaped to South Korea with my family in 2016. He was elected a Deputy, representing the richest district of Seoul Gangnam, known worldwide thanks to the hit 2012 rapper PSY — «Gangnam Style».
«The Republic of Korea [South Korea] — my homeland. Gangnam — my hometown.» — Tae said in his speech. «I thank you [inhabitants of Gangnam] because you chose me, and I became the first [fugitive] from North Korea who won in the constituency… I will not disappoint you and will work hard.»
Tae ran for Parliament from the main opposition conservative party — the «United party of the future» — which advocates for stronger reaction to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and its widespread violations of human rights.
North Korea was not the main topic in the elections held on Wednesday, which was marred by the pandemic coronavirus. The ruling liberal Democratic party in South Korea, which advocates rapprochement with North Korea, won, which was associated with slowing the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Before the election, the diplomat said that his decision to run for Parliament was intended to open to nationals of South Korea’s eyes to the true situation in the DPRK. According to Tae, his election victory will give hope to the citizens of North Korea who suffer from the dictatorship of an authoritarian state. He says he escaped from North Korea, because in despair, watching the development of nuclear weapons and he wanted his children to grow up in an atmosphere of dictatorship and lived a «miserable» life, as thousands of citizens across the country.
North Korea reacted negatively to the election of Tae, accusing him of embezzling public funds and committing various crimes.
Over the last decade in South Korea from dictatorship ran around 33,000 citizens of the DPRK, most of which are rural poor.
