Anchor: Following the defection last week of more than a dozen North Koreans working overseas, the South Korean government has confirmed that last year a high-ranking North Korean military official defected to the South.
Kim Eunji reports.

Report: It has been made known that a North Korean senior colonel defected to South Korea last year.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday confirmed a media report about the defection of the officer from the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau.

But ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun refused to elaborate on the South Korean media report that cited a source familiar with North Korea affairs.

The source stressed that the North Korean officer is the highest ranked North Korean soldier to defect to the South, noting that a senior colonel in the Reconnaissance General Bureau corresponds to a two-star general at regular North Korean Army units. 

The North Korean senior colonel is said to have revealed to South Korean authorities about his agency's spy activities.

The bureau was headed by Kim Yong-chol, who is currently the director of the United Front Department in charge of policies on South Korea.
 
Though it is directly under the North Korean military's General Staff, the reconnaissance agency is a key organization that directly reports to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. 

Kim Eunji, KBS World Radio News.