1分6合

Jo Song-gil

A senior North Korea diplomat who had vanished in Italy in late 2018 lives in South Korea under government protection, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

If confirmed, Jo Song Gil, the North's former ambassador to Italy, would be the highest-level North Korean official to defect to rival South Korea since the 1997 arrival of Hwang Jang-yop, a senior ruling Workers' Party official who once tutored leader Kim Jong Un's father, late leader Kim Jong Il.

South Korea's spy agency earlier told lawmakers that Jo had left his official residence in Rome with his wife in November 2018 and was under protection at an unspecified location outside the European country.

Lawmaker Ha Tae-keung, who sits on the intelligence committee of the National Assembly, wrote on Facebook that Jo arrived in South Korea last year and is under the protection of the South Korean government.

Ha said he was confirming Jo's arrival on behalf of the committee to prevent a media frenzy, after a South Korean TV station reported about his defection on Tuesday evening. Ha said the committee decided not to provide further details about Jo for his safety.