hankyoreh

Thae Yong-ho, a former North Korean diplomat who later defected to South Korea, will be running in South Korea’s upcoming general elections under the Liberty Korea Party (LKP). At a press conference on Feb. 11, Thae pledged that he will dedicate himself to achieving reunification if elected as a member of the National Assembly. “When the North Korean people and its political elite see someone who’d spent his entire life as a North Korean diplomat become elected as a member of South Korea’s constitutionally ordained National Assembly, that’s when the process of true reunification will begin,” Thae added. (Kim Gyoung-ho, staff photographer)