Talk of Kil Jae-gyong, High-ranking NK Official, Taking Refuge in the U.S.

As there is talk that a close aide to the chairman of North Korea’s Defense Commission, Kim Jong-il, sought refuge in the U.S., the Korean government has begun attempts to uncover the truth.

Quoting a close diplomatic source in Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday that Kil Jae-gyong, 69, deputy director at Kim’s secretariat recently defected to the U.S. According to the report, Kil led a drug trafficking attempt that failed last month. On April 20, the North Korean ship Pongsu, carrying 50 kilograms of heroin, worth some $50 million, was intercepted off the coast of Australia. As soon as the ship was intercepted, he defected to avoid punishment, the report said.

The news agency also said on Sunday morning that there was a possibility that Han Myung-chul, vice president of Jogwang trading, a North Korean trading firm, took refuge in the U.S. along with Kil.

Regarding the Yonhap news agency’s report, the Korean government says that it has not confirmed the report yet and that it did not receive any information from the U.S. through diplomatic channels.

After the Yonhap news report was released, Mr. Han called the Hong Kong branch of the news agency and said, “Kil died a few years ago.”

He asserted that reporting a person, who had already died defected to the U.S. constitutes defamation, and asked for an apology from the media and intelligence agencies involved in the report.

Mr. Han also said that talk about Kil`s defection to the U.S. was a scheme by South Korea`s intelligence agency and that this agency should fill in news outlets after it checks North Korea’s reports.

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com