Thae Yong-ho, formerly DPRK Deputy Ambassador in London, finally ended up in Seoul last week at the end of a volatile period for Britain’s relationship with North Korea. The defection came as a shock to the English-speaking world. Thae was well known to London’s community of North Korea watchers and analysts, frequently delivering lectures to leftist groupings in the city and traveling with Ambassador Hyon Hak-bong to the latter’s scheduled engagements.

While he rarely took the stage for formal presentations – like Ambassador Hyon's September 2015 speech at Chatham House – Thae was understood by the policy community to be a person of significance first by virtue of having been in post for so long, and second thanks to the fact that in DPRK political structures it is the Vice-Minister rather than the Minister who often has greater authority.