'N. Korea assassins target defectors in S. Korea'

By Kim Rahn

Assassins hired by North Korea have been in South Korea to kill high-profile North Korean defectors here, according to Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the minor conservative Bareun Party, Wednesday.

His remark came two days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam was poisoned to death in Malaysia presumably by two female North Korean agents.

In a party meeting, Ha said he obtained intelligence last year that two male agents had infiltrated into the South.

He said he is not sure whether they are North Koreans who came via Southeast Asia, or if they are nationals of a third country such as China or a Southeast Asian country.

“The agents’ targets are high-profile North Korean defectors and defector-turned-activists who work against the Kim Jong-un regime,” he said.

He said Thae Yong-ho, former North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain who fled to the South last August, could be the No. 1 target as he is one of the highest-ranking North Korean officials to escape from the country and he knows a lot of recent information about the repressive state.

“A few years ago there was an attempt to murder a defector here with a poisoned needle. The government should be prepared to protect against any assassination attempt of such figures,” Ha said.

The Unification Ministry said the government has been checking the safety of such possible targets beginning Tuesday night.

“In the past, Lee Han-young (nephew of Sung Hae-rim, Kim Jong-nam’s mother) was killed here and there was an attempted murder of Hwang Jang-yop, former secretary of the North Korean Workers’ Party. As the North has already threatened to kill defectors in the South, we need to check on their safety,” ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said.

“We will bolster the protection system for defectors and activists of inter-Korean exchange groups.”

Police also dispatched more officers to protect dozens of high-profile defectors.

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said the assassination of Kim Jong-nam shows the brutality of the Kim Jong-un regime.

Holding the National Security Council’s standing committee session in Seoul, Hwang said, “The government should closely monitor the situation in the North and prepare countermeasures against any possible incidents including additional provocations.”

He said the foreign affairs and security-related authorities should strengthen sanctions against North Korea together with the international community so that the Kim regime will have no other option but to change fundamentally.