The former number two at North Korea's embassy in London has said he fled because he was disillusioned with the "tyrannical reign of terror" in Pyongyang.

Thae Yong Ho told officials in South Korea he escaped with his family because he was disgusted with his homeland.



After he left the North, Pyongyang called him "human scum" and accused him of embezzling official funds and committing other crimes.

Mr Thae, who has been guarded by South Korea's National Intelligence Service since his defection in August, met South Korean officials on Monday, according to lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo.

Image: Kim Jong-Un took power in late 2011

He said Mr Thae learned about democracy by watching South Korean dramas and feature films.

:: North Korea Defection: The Diplomat Who Turned


Mr Thae said North Koreans are suffering "slavery" under Kim Jong-Un's dictatorship and higher-level officials are subject to more intense state surveillance.

He will be released into South Korean society on Friday, Mr Lee's office said.

Mr Thae has said he will now work towards "freeing the North Korean people from repression and persecution," Mr Lee told the Yonhap news agency.

"I will engage in public activities even if it threatens my own safety," he quoted Mr Thae as saying.

The Defectors: A Special Programme

South Korean media said that Mr Thae will be under a police protection programme after he is freed.

He is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to the South.

In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but he resettled in the United States.

More than 30,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the Korean War in the 1950s, according to the government in Seoul.