North Korean's Defect

Gone over to the other side

Up to 20 high-ranking North Korean military officers and nuclear scientists have defected to the United States and its allies under a plan involving several countries including the Pacific state of Nauru, an Australian newspaper said on Saturday. The defections began last October after 11 countries agreed to provide consular protection to smuggle North Koreans from China, The Weekend Australian said. The man seen as the father of North Korea's nuclear program, Kyong Won-ha, was believed among the defectors, the newspaper said. It said a U.S.-based lawyer approached Nauru's former president, Rene Harris, with an offer to foot the bill for establishing Nauruan embassies in Washington and Beijing, ostensibly to boost trade ties with those countries. But the real reason for the Beijing embassy was "to expedite the movement of these very important people," the paper said, citing Harris.

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