More than 28,000 people have fled North Korea since the end of the Korean War, but high level defections are low. Last week, 13 North Koreans who had been working in one of the North’s restaurants abroad defected as a group.
A senior North Korean military officer who oversaw spying operations has defected, said South Korean officials.
The defected officer has not been named, but the defence ministry in Seoul said he was a senior colonel in the Reconnaissance General Bureau and left last year.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a source as saying the colonel was seen as elite by other defectors.
Yonhap said a number of senior political figures had defected while working overseas recently.
It quoted government officials as saying this was a sign the leadership of Kim Jong-un was cracking.
