---
title: "Ri Il-gyu | Save North Korea"
description: Counselor for Political Affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Havana who defected with his wife and child in November 2023, making him the highest-ranking dipl
url: "https://savenorthkorea.org/people/ri-il-gyu"
language: en
translations:
  en: https://savenorthkorea.org/people/ri-il-gyu
  ko: https://savenorthkorea.org/ko/people/ri-il-gyu
  ja: https://savenorthkorea.org/ja/people/ri-il-gyu
  zh-Hans: https://savenorthkorea.org/zh/people/ri-il-gyu
---

[People](https://savenorthkorea.org/people) · defector · diplomat

RI 

# Ri Il-gyu 리일규 

defected 54 years old 

Counselor for Political Affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Havana who defected with his wife and child in November 2023, making him the highest-ranking diplomat to escape since 2016\. In a July 2024 interview, he revealed high-level regime corruption and Kim Jong Un's personal rage over South Korea's diplomatic normalization with Cuba. 

Born

1972, Pyongyang

Height

Unknown 

Weight

Unknown 

Status as of

2023-11-01

Also known as

Ri Il-gyu

Machine-readable: [/api/people/ri-il-gyu](https://savenorthkorea.org/api/people/ri-il-gyu) · [Wikidata Q127625979](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q127625979)