North Korean ambassador to Italy in hiding, South Korean MP says

[soryang]

2. He's not an ambassador

he's filling in as charge. So he's a lower ranking official.

This is a cloak and dagger affair with many potential intelligence ramifications. Italy is the center of smuggling operations from Europe to North Korea which the North Korean embassy has been involved in the past. There was a very similar affair to this in 2010 when Kim Jong Il's "banker" defected to Italy. Many if not most of the European luxury goods that come to North Korea in spite of sanctions come through Italy, where smuggling is a highly developed business, and there are suspicions that this embassy is involved. These goods are part of the supply chain for the patronage system among North Korean elites.

Everyone is wondering what intelligence, if any, will come from this official. Did Kim's sofa seen on New Year's day come from Italy?

The timing is also perfect from the point of view of the stalled nuclear negotiations. This event was likely intended to have that effect as well.

Tae Yeong Ho has been doing extensive interviews with Channel A News Top Ten in South Korea for a couple of days now. This serves to promote his views on the New Year's speech by Kim Jong Un.

https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2019/01/kims-sofa-new-years-message.html