North Korea's former acting ambassador to Kuwait Ryu Hyun-woo has an interview with CNN in January. Captured from CNN

By Yi Whan-woo

A North Korean official ranking higher than the country's former Acting Ambassador to Kuwait Ryu Hyun-woo, whose defection to South Korea was recently made public, also fled from the same Gulf state in 2017 and defected to the South, according to a reliable source.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the source told The Korea Times that the "higher-placed" official was not a diplomat but was in charge of a construction project involving North Korean workers. They were eventually sent back home after Kuwait enforced the 2017 U.N. Security Council sanctions against the Kim Jong-un regime which was using "their" wage remittances to fund its nuclear and missile programs. The source also wondered why the government didn't reveal anything about the earlier defection.

The Kuwaiti government maintains a non-interference stance on North Koreans defecting to Seoul via the South Korean Embassy there, respecting their individual right to travel, and considering such defections a matter between the two Koreas.

World Institute for North Korea Studies President An Chan-il, also a North Korean defector, told The Korea Times that he "once heard about a bureaucrat in the construction sector, outranking Ryu, defecting from an unidentified Middle Eastern country around 2019."

Over the past five years, three senior North Korean diplomats have safely made their way to Seoul, according to public records. They are former Deputy Ambassador to the U.K. Tae Yong-ho who came to the South in 2016, former Acting Ambassador to Italy Jo Song-gil in 2018 and Ryu in 2019. Ryu was also the son-in-law of Jon Il-chun, who once served as the "top banker" of the North Korean leader.

More than 30,000 North Korean defectors live in the South.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks with diplomats in North Korea's Embassy in Vietnam, Feb. 26, 2019, ahead of his summit in the country with then U.S. President Donald Trump. Yonhap

Asked about the alleged 2017 defection, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Choi Young-sam said, "The ministry has nothing to say about the matter."

He also said the ministry works closely with relevant ministries on defector-related issues.

Ministry of Unification spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo also refused to confirm the 2017 case. "As the ministry of primary responsibility (for defector issues), we track the records of every North Korean who defects to the South," Lee said.

"But even so, we won't disclose the cases publicly, because it is a matter of personal information, safety, the right to privacy to remain undisclosed and other factors that we comprehensively take into account to help defectors successfully settle here. Moreover, the life of a defector's family left in the North can be in danger if the case is made public in an indiscreet manner."

She explained the cases of Tae, Jo and Ryu were made public "in respect of" their willingness to share the dire situation in the North.

Tae, the most active among the three aforementioned senior diplomats-turned-defectors, has published a book and given lectures about the North, and is now a lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) following the 2020 general election.

He told The Korea Times that he hadn't heard about any defections from Kuwait other than Ryu, but added that he would know more certainly if he met Ryu, who has failed to respond to his repeated requests for a meeting. "I think he is avoiding meeting me; maybe because the government is pressuring him."

PPP member Lee Hye-hoon, who headed the Intelligence Committee in the second half of the 20th National Assembly, did not respond to The Korea Times' request for comment.

Meanwhile, defectors said there have been more defections of North Korean diplomats and other members of the elite than reported.

"It can't be said for certain whether they included additional defectors from Kuwait. Those posted overseas feel tempted to flee," said Kang Myung-do, a son-in-law of former North Korean premier Kang Song-san.

Another defector, Lee Deok-kwang, voiced a similar opinion, saying, "It's never a surprise in the defector community to hear about former diplomats and other officials who have now settled here."