Name? Thae Yong-Ho
Westphalian identity? North Korean (?)
Age? 57
Why is he in the news? Thae has announced his decision to run in the South Korean Election for the National Assembly.
Why do we care? Well, two of us have lived in Seoul and have thus kept up a bit more with South Korean “politics”, i.e. K-Pop mostly. In this case, however, we care because Thae is the most senior-level North Korean defector to run for office in the South as he formerly served as the deputy ambassador to Britain for Kim Jung-un.
Why should you care? As a former high-level diplomat for North Korea, Thae holds certain insights into Kim’s government, business, strategy, etc. that we otherwise would have to speculate on. Politics in Pyongyang remain an enigma, so any insight information is always useful.
Who else cares? As this is a national election, certain domestic interest groups such as political parties, lobbyists, corresponding constituents, opposition groups and more would take great interest in Thae’s campaign. Undoubtedly though, North Korea cares as to what happens to Thae. And they might nudge his life towards a premature end if they don’t like what they see.
Any further comments? With this news from South Korea, we can’t help but wonder what’s going on in the North? We haven’t heard or read much of anything in the media recently. Silence is not always the greatest thing when it comes to authoritarian leaders…Perhaps Thae will shed some light on this mystery as well.
