The man is the highest-level military official ever to have defected to the South, a Seoul government official is quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency SEOUL — South Korea said on Monday that a North Korean colonel in charge of spy operations had defected to the South, a rare move by such a senior military officer.The army colonel had handled espionage targeting South Korea at the North’s General Bureau of Reconnaissance, before arriving in Seoul last year, the South’s Yonhap news agency said.Unification and defence ministry spokespeople in Seoul confirmed the report but declined to give details such as the officer’s name and exact date of defection. "He is the highest-level military official to have ever defected to the South," said a Seoul government official quoted by Yonhap.The officer is believed to have given details about the bureau’s operations against South Korea to authorities in Seoul, the unidentified official said.The news came days after Seoul announced that a group o...

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