韩国：朝鲜人民军一名高级军官脱北

South Korea says a high-ranking North Korean military officer defected to the South last year.

The announcement was made Monday in Seoul by the South\'s ministries of Defense and Unification. The unidentified officer is a senior colonel who worked in North Korea\'s General Reconnaissance Bureau, making him the highest-ranked officer known to defect from the authoritarian regime.

The bureau conducts espionage activities against Seoul, including cyberattacks. The agency is also blamed for the 2010 torpedo attack against a South Korean naval ship, killing 46 sailors; an act Pyongyang has denied.

Last year, a North Korean diplomat stationed in an African country defected with his family to the South.

韩国统一部和国防部星期一在首尔宣布了上述消息，脱北的是一名大校，原在朝鲜人民军侦察总局任职，韩国没有公布此人的姓名。这名军官是脱北军人中军衔最高的军官。

朝鲜人民军侦察总局针对韩国进行间谍活动，包括网络空间袭击。该局被认为是2010年韩国军舰遭到的鱼雷袭击事件的幕后策划者，那次袭击造成韩国46名海军丧生。朝鲜否认发动了这次袭击。

去年，一名驻非洲的朝鲜外交官携家眷脱北投奔韩国。

朝鲜大校脱北消息传来前的几天，韩国刚刚宣布，一家驻外国营餐厅的13名朝鲜员工集体脱北，这是2011年以来，集体脱北人数最多的一次。

自朝鲜半岛战争结束以来，已有两万九千多名朝鲜人脱北入韩。