N. Korea attempted murder of high-ranking defected official

N. Korea attempted murder of high-ranking defected official. February. 22, 2017 07:40. weappon@donga.com.

Barun Party Rep. Ha Tae-kyung argued Tuesday that North Korea infiltrated a foreign hired killer into South Korea and attempted terror against a high-ranking North Korean defector.

"It was identified that a hired killer infiltrated into our country and attempted a terror attack on a high-ranking North Korean defector but failed," Ha told at a meeting with floor members. "The killers are from China and Southeast Asia, and investigators are currently tracking them."

"North Korea's assassination strategy has changed to hired killing since 2014," Ha said. North Korea had used direct planting of spies for stage 1 and killer disguised as North Korean defectors in stage 2. As the assassination strategy of former North Korean Workers' Party Secretary Hwang Jang Yop failed, however, the North shifted to hiring foreign killers.

"According to a defector who was from a North Korean spy agency, Ri Ji Young and Hong Song Hak, both North Korean nationalities, were self-destruct killers," the lawmaker said. "If two women fail, these two men were to complete the assassination and then self-bomb if there are concerns of being arrested."

Ha declined to reveal the high-ranking North Korean defector against whom North Korea tried to murder, but said that the person is not Tae Young Ho, former North Korean ambassador to the U.K.

The South Korean intelligence agency also believes that there is high possibility that North Korea would attempt additional terror attacks on North Korean human rights activists who deported from the North. "Kim Jong Nam's assassination is North Korea's public warning against high-ranking North Korean defectors," said an official at the National Assembly's intelligence committee. "The next target could be a high-ranking defector who is yet known to public."