North Korea’s top diplomat in Italy has reportedly fled his post to seek asylum, in what would be another high-profile defection bid by a Pyongyang envoy and a humiliating blow for Kim Jong-un as he tries to shape his image as a global statesman.

Jo Song-gil, 48, the acting North Korean ambassador to Rome, applied for asylum to an unidentified Western country with his family, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo daily said on Thursday, citing unnamed diplomatic sources in Seoul.

The same sources said the Italian authorities were “agonising” over what to do.

Kim Min-ki, a South Korean politician and member of the ruling Democratic Party, later briefed journalists that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) told parliament’s intelligence committee in a closed hearing that Mr Jo and his wife “disappeared” in November when his tenure was due to end.

"The NIS has not attempted to contact Jo nor received any contact from him for the past two months,” Mr Kim said, according to South Korean news wire Yonhap.

The agency also stopped short of confirming that Mr Jo was attempting to gain asylum for a third country. "We cannot confirm," the NIS said in response to questions on which country was protecting Mr Jo and his wife and on the whereabouts their children.