A ranking member of North Korea's state-run scientists' association has defected from the communist state and is seeking asylum in South Korea, an official at a South Korean human rights group said Friday.
The North Korean scientist, only identified by the alias Park, defected to neighboring China in March, according to Do Hui-yoon, secretary general of the Citizen's Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees.
"He has been moved to a Southeast Asian country with the help of a U.N. organization," Do told Yonhap News Agency.
According to the official at the South Korean human rights group, the North Korean defector headed a provincial committee of the General Federation of Science and Technology of Korea while in the communist state.
The official refused to provide any other details of the defector, including his origin, out of concern they could give away his identity.
The North Korean scientist was being accompanied by a female doctor from the North who had defected separately and was also receiving assistance from the U.N. organization, according to Do. Seoul, May 19 (Yonhap News)
N. Korean scientist seeks asylum in S. Korea with help from U.N. |
