Free Republic

It seems we may have an important defector from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a senior commander no less. The news first appeared on Banafshah Zand’s indispensable website on the crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Brigadier General Ali Nasiri, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Protection Bureau, is said to have fled to the West after a fallout with the representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC. On Thursday, April 11th, during a meeting among the senior IRGC intelligence officials, Nasiri and Hossein Taeb, the representative of the Supreme Leader to the IRGC came to...

A US Air Force officer has defected to Iran and shared information that could cause "serious damage" to America's national security, officials have revealed. The former Air Force intelligence specialist was charged with espionage and was accused of working for Iran, according to an unsealed federal indictment. The announcement arrived after Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers and other senior officials held a call with reporters to discuss what they called “a national security related action involving Iran”. Mr Demers was joined by US Attorney for Washington, Jessie Liu, FBI Executive Assistant Director for National Security Jay Tabb,...

It may be a Ukrainian love story as complicated and dubious as the motives behind the simmering war itself: A female separatist commander and star propagandist for Russia-backed separatists defects to Kyiv to be with her Ukrainian spy lover. But she also brings word of Russian plans for a massive invasion. Moreover, she's ready to testify in The Hague to Moscow's role in alleged war crimes. Svitlana Dryuk, the notorious commander of an all-female tank crew for anti-Kyiv forces in some of the bloodiest battles of the five-year conflict, aired her allegations on Ukraine's 1+1 TV channel on March 3....

Full Title: Shadowy group protecting the son of Kim Jong-un's assassinated brother vows to rid North Korea of the 'great evil' Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) declared itself the legitimate interim government In a statement on its website on Friday it vowed to fight Kim Jong Un's regime CCD say they are protecting Kim Han Sol, the son of murdered Kim Jong Nam A shadowy group believed to be protecting the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's assassinated brother declared the formation of a 'legitimate interim government' on Friday. The Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) organisation, which offers to assist...

If you’ve been following this story for the past year or so this won’t come as much of a shock. A Venezuela Supreme Court Justice named Christian Tyrone Zerpa has fled the country with his wife and children. Zerpa gave an interview to a news outlet in Florida and said he had remained silent about the legitimacy of the last presidential election out of concern for his family but says he can no longer continue to help President Maduro rule the country. From NPR: Zerpa met a reporter in Orlando and told the outlet, “I think the president, Nicolás...

A North Korean diplomat who was until recently acting ambassador to Italy has gone missing after reports he was seeking asylum in the West. The diplomat, Jo Song-gil, disappeared with his wife and children after leaving the embassy without notice in early November, according to Kim Min-ki, a South Korean politician who was briefed by the National Intelligence Service. The Seoul-based JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, citing an unidentified diplomatic source, said Mr Jo, 48, had applied for asylum to an unspecified Western country and was in a "safe place" with his family under the protection of the Italian Government. But a...

[snip]The two U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the Turkish officer was working at the headquarters of NATO's Allied Command Transformation, located in Norfolk, Virginia. They did not name him or offer his rank. However, an official at Turkey's embassy in Washington said Turkish Navy Rear Admiral Mustafa Ugurlu had failed to report to authorities after Turkey issued a detention order for him last month. "On July 22, on that day he left his badges and his ID at the base and after that no one has heard anything from him," the official said, also...

A North Korean soldier who defected to the South has been found to have anthrax antibodies in his bloodstream, local news reports. The unidentified soldier, believed to be the man who defected in November this year, would have been either exposed to or vaccinated against anthrax before he defected to South Korea. This comes after a report that North Korea is conducting biological weapons experiments to test the possibility of loading anthrax-laden warheads on its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Three North Koreans — a soldier and two others — defected to South Korea this week and the South has fired warning shots at Northern guards searching for its latest defector, according to a report out Wednesday. A “low-ranking” soldier who defected to the South was spotted in front of a guard post just after 8 a.m. Thursday after crossing through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No shots were fired as the soldier moved across country lines, and there was no unusual movement detected coming from North Korea, according to the...

N.K. apparently replaces all border security guards after soldier's defection: source 2017/11/23 17:29 SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to have replaced all border security guards following a North Korean soldier's recent defection to the South via a jointly controlled area at the tense border, an intelligence source said Thursday. A North Korean soldier was shot and wounded by his fellows Nov. 13 when he sought to cross the heavily guarded inter-Korean border to defect. The replacement seems to be a response to their failure to deter his escape. "Signs were detected that North Korea has replaced...

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRTdVgc00H0

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean troops fired on a fellow soldier who was defecting to South Korea on Monday across the heavily armed border dividing the countries, South Korean officials said, amid heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear weapons program. The soldier was shot but succeeded in reaching the South, its military said in a statement. The North Korean soldier defected through Panmunjom, a village that straddles the border between the two Koreas. Alerted by gunshots, South Korean guards found the North Korean soldier about 55 yards south of the border line that bisects Panmunjom. He was taken to...

/start my translation German Human Right Activist Vollertsen: "Ready For A Massive Defection of High Ranking N. Korean Figures" Norbert Vollertsen(age 45: a doctor), a German human right activist, who has been actively helping N. Korean escapees confirmed on 6th (of May, 2003) that 20 high ranking N. Korean figures, including a N. Korean nuclear physicist Dr. Kyoung Won-Ha, did defect and that some of them are now staying in Washington D.C., U.S.A.. However, he refused to confirm whether Dr. Kyoung Won-Ha, known as the father of N. Korean nuclear development, himself is staying in Washington D.C.. Mr. Vollertsen is...

/begin my translation A N. Korean Diplomat Found Dead in Shenyang (Disappeared since Oct.) Choi Yushik in Beijing 2009/11/13 Authorities looking into various possibilities A consul at N. Korean Consulate in Shenyang, China, was recently found dead in the city, raising tension among the diplomatic circles in China. A source on N. Korea in Beijing said on Nov. 12, "A consul in charge of economic affairs at N. Korean Consulate in Shenyang was found dead on Oct. 30. Chinese authorities are investigating." The consul went missing in early October, which prompted rumors. One version said he may have escaped to...

Gov't to give upwards to 1 bln won to defectors with N.K. secrets 2017/03/05 SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korean defectors who have classified information about the reclusive country will receive up to 1 billion won (US$860,000) in reward money, the government said Sunday. The amount represents a four-fold increase from the 250 million won maximum amount offered at present, and is designed to get more North Korean elites to switch sides. It is also the first time in 20 years that Seoul has moved to increase the reward money given to defectors with useful, high-grade information. The Ministry...

Seoul (CNN)A senior North Korean diplomat, along with his wife and children, has defected and reached safety in South Korea, making it the highest-level diplomatic defection from the Pyongyang regime in history. Thae Yong Ho, the deputy ambassador of the North Korean embassy in the UK, is under government protection, Jeong Joo-hee, a spokesman for the South Korean Unification Ministry, told reporters Wednesday.

[Exclusive] N. Korean General Defects Seeking Political Asylum Write : 2016-07-29 08:54:16 Update : 2016-07-29 14:15:08 Anchor: A general who was in charge of managing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's overseas slush funds is said to be in China after escaping from his country, and is seeking political asylum with two other North Koreans in a country other than South Korea. A source said that the three were separated from a diplomat from Pyongyang, who is seeking his own defection to another country. Here is Kim Bum-soo with KBS' exclusive report. Report: It has been made known that a general...

North Korean restaurant defectors 'were in China and left legally' China has said that 13 North Korean restaurant workers who defected to South Korea last week had been working in China and had left legally. In a rare comment on such issues, a foreign ministry spokesman said the 13 had the right documents to exit China. China tends to view North Koreans who escape across its border as illegal economic migrants and sends them back. The group are now in South Korea, which provides an aid and adjustment package for all North Koreans who defect.

(2nd LD) N.K. military intelligence officer defected to S. Korea last year: Seoul 2016/04/11 14:23 (ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 6, 12, 15-17) SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- A ranking North Korean military officer in charge of conducting intelligence operations defected to South Korea last year, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, as the North's leader is tightening his grip on the regime. A North Korean senior colonel, whose name has been withheld, defected in 2015 after working at the North's reconnaissance bureau tasked with carrying out espionage missions against the South, the ministry said. "(The North Korean military...

North Korea’s Largest Recent Defector Group Arrives in South Korea The group of 13 worked in a North Korean restaurant in an unidentified country By Alastair Gale Updated April 8, 2016 10:00 a.m. ET SEOUL—In one of the largest known group defections of North Koreans in recent years, 13 restaurant workers from the country have arrived together in South Korea, Seoul said. The group of one male manager and 12 female employees were based at a restaurant in an undisclosed country outside North Korea and reached South Korea on Thursday, a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry said. The defection...