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Jean-Baptiste Kim (born 26 January 1966[ citation needed ]) is a political defector-refugee from South Korea in Europe.
He was born in South Korea which he fled as a teenager following incarceration and torture against him and his family members by the South Korean authorities leading to the death of his father. [1] (His father was a political activist of the then-military dictatorship in South Korea.)
After becoming a French citizen he was opened to North Korean connections in Europe by meeting a North Korean agent Oon Yung. [2] This led to his political defection from South Korea to North Korea, becoming an associate of Kim Jong Il whom he met and says was like a father figure for him. [3] He actively worked for the North Korean authorities for 11 years, visiting Pyongyang several times. He served time as a foreign correspondent of Rodong Sinmun.
In 2007, he announced his dissociation with Pyongyang and that he is no longer working for the North Korean state. [4] This led to the cancellation of the Rock for Peace Festival that he was in the middle of organising in which a Norwegian rock band among others was to perform in Pyongyang. [5] Following his resignation, he became a mobile phone salesman in New Malden, Surrey. [1]