North Korea Purges Vice Minister After Diplomat Fled, Paper Says
- JoongAng says official banished to farming area as punishment
- South Korean government says it is checking the report
North Korean soldiers march during a mass military parade at Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, 2015.
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North Korea has purged a deputy foreign minister as punishment for the defection of a high-ranking diplomat, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said.
Kim Jong Un recently banished Vice Foreign Minister Kung Sok Ung and his family to a farming area after the mid-year defection to South Korea of Thae Yong Ho, who was second in command at the North Korean embassy in London, the paper reported Wednesday, citing a person familiar with North Korean affairs it did not identify.