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| ▲ This undated file photo shows Tae Yong-ho speaking at the National Assembly in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
ex-NK diplomat-unification council
Former N. Korean diplomat tapped to lead S. Korea's unification council
SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- Tae Yong-ho, tapped to lead South Korea's presidential advisory council on unification, is a high-profile North Korean defector with vast understanding and first-hand experience in North Korean politics and diplomacy.
His appointment to head of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council marks the first time for a North Korean defector to serve in a deputy ministerial post.
Born in Pyongyang in 1962, Tae was first posted as a diplomat to Sweden and Denmark, and served as the No. 2 North Korean diplomat at the North Korean Embassy in London before defecting to the South in 2016 with his family.
Just four years after he fled his country, he was elected as a lawmaker here in 2020, becoming the first North Korean defector to enter the National Assembly through direct voting.
The former North Korean diplomat's win in Seoul's affluent district of Gangnam, traditionally considered a stronghold for conservatives, garnered particular interest. He ran under the pseudonym "Tae Ku-min," which translates to "saving people" in Korean, as he expressed his will to "rescue North Korean people."
After entering the Assembly, he served as deputy chief of the ruling People Power Party from 2021 to 2022 and leader of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from November 2023 to May 2024.
Tae failed to secure a second term in the April parliamentary elections this year.
He studied at Pyongyang University of International Relations and earned his bachelor's degree in English Literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
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