The government has officially denied media reports that a high-level North Korean general defected to the South.
 
A Unification Ministry official said in a news briefing on Thursday that reports about the defection of Park Seung-won, who served as the North’s Deputy Chief of General Staff, have been confirmed false.
 
The official said there were no high-ranking North Koreans among those who recently fled their country. The ministry also said nothing has been confirmed concerning rumors that a senior official of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea escaped from the North.
 
Claiming that Park is overseeing a construction project at the Masikryong ski resort, the North on Wednesday publicly criticized the South Korean media for reports on defections by senior North Koreans and on executions of high-level officials.
 
The Unification Ministry's comment and the preceding criticism from Pyongyang come after some South Korean media recently reported that Park defected to the South after passing through Moscow in April.