TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd January, 2019) Jo Song Gil, the charge d'affaires of the North Korean embassy in Italy, has applied for asylum in the EU country, media reported on Thursday.
The South Korean JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, that Jo, 48, and his family were living under the protection of the Italian authorities.
Third countries usually inform Seoul about North Korean defectors seeking to receive asylum abroad.
However, this time, the South Korean presidential office said it had no information on the issue, according to the local Yonhap news agency.
Meanwhile, a South Korean intelligence source declined to confirm Jo's asylum bid to the agency.
Yonhap suggested that the North Korean diplomat had applied for asylum in Italy after he had been instructed to return to Pyongyang. The agency added that the diplomat had also applied for a procedure preventing him from being repatriated to a third country.
The outlet mentioned the education of Jo's children as a possible reason behind the move.
Jo has been working in as a charge d'affaires in Italy since October 2017 when ambassador Mun Jong Nam was expelled from the country in the wake of the North's nuclear test.
