Ri Il-gyu settles in Korea after serving as North Korean ambassador to Cuba
“Confirmed execution of Han Seong-ryeol, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission”
According to information obtained from the government and others on the 16th, former North Korean Ambassador to Cuba Ri Il-gyu defected to Korea last November. Born in Pyongyang in 1972, Ri studied Spanish at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies and worked in Cuba for a total of 9 years from September 2011 to January 2016, and from April 2019 to November 2023. He was tasked with obstructing the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Cuba and was classified as a representative “Cuba expert” within the North Korean Foreign Ministry. In particular, he received a commendation from Kim Jong-un in July 2013 for helping to resolve the ‘Cheongchonkang-ho’ incident, where a North Korean ship carrying illegal weapons was intercepted while attempting to pass through the Panama Canal.
Through Ri’s testimony, it was confirmed that former Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho was purged in December 2019 on corruption charges and taken to a political prison along with his family. The last known official report of Ri Yong-ho was in a newspaper article dated April 13, 2020, reporting his removal from the position of State Councilor. Subsequently, it was revealed through the National Intelligence Service’s assessment in January last year that “the confirmation of Ri’s punishment was made, but the confirmation of his execution was not.”
It was also confirmed through Ri that Han Seong-ryeol, former Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S., was executed for espionage charges around February 2019. After he served as the head of a North Korean diplomatic delegation to Sweden in February 2018 and returned to North Korea, he was not identified in official North Korean media anymore. North Korea expert at the Stimson Center, Mike Madden, revealed that “Han Seong-ryeol was purged on suspicion of spying and enriching himself.”