North Korea has ordered the return of their diplomat who defected to South Korea this week, calling him a criminal and “human scum” on state media Saturday.
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The KCNA did not identify Thae by his name but claimed the fugitive “was instructed to return home in June last for questioning as regards the embezzlement of huge amount of state funds, leakage of state secrets for money and rape of a minor”.
Mr Thae is the highest-ranking diplomat ever to defect to South Korea. Thae and his family are under South Korean government protection and not available for comment.
The Pyongyang government also slammed the British government for disregarding worldwide protocol and rejecting its demand to have Thae returned to North Korea, and instead handing him over to the South Koreans.
While the veracity of the accusations is unclear, by stressing that his aim was to flee justice rather than dissatisfaction with the regime, it appears aimed at ensuring that other high-level cadres do not follow Thae’s lead.
The North’s prosecution authorities issued a legal document on starting the investigation on July 12, KCNA said.
KCNA also criticised Britain for handing over Thae and his family to South Korea, saying that Pyongyang had previously told London of his crimes and requested his extradition.
More than 29,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to Seoul.
A London-based diplomat who defected from North Korea to Seoul has been branded “human scum” by the regime.
The incident was exacerbated by the fact that Britain, in disregard of global extradition practices, ignored the DPRK’s request to send Thae back, but instead handed him over to South Korea, which is keen on North-South confrontation. It was the largest group defection since Kim took power in late 2011.
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Defections are a source of bitter contention between the rival Koreas, and South Korea doesn’t always make high-profile cases public. The North has warned of unspecified retaliation and fired several missiles into the sea earlier this month.
