By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
South Korea brushed aside reports Thursday claiming that a senior North Korean military figure had recently defected.
The South's media has been closely tracking rumors of high-profile defections based on fear spreading among officials from the North. The allegation is supported by Seoul's intelligence suggesting that leader Kim Jong-un has purged dozens of members of Pyongyang's elite since taking power following the death of his father in 2011.
Among those believed to have fled to the South is General Park Sung-won, previously a deputy chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army.
But South Korea's unification ministry has labeled the claim "groundless," according to local news agency Yonhap -- just a day after the North's own state-run media commented on the issue.
Dismissing reports out of the South as "sheer lies," Pyongyang's KCNA media outlet insisted that Park had been given a medal of honor for his role in the construction of a new ski resort in North Korea.
But South Korea's foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, did concede Thursday that Seoul has noted the unsettling impact of the North's most recent leadership transition.
Speaking at a domestic forum of journalists, Yun highlighted the concern of North Korean citizens in privileged positions abroad amid Seoul's claim that more than 70 officials have been executed under Kim.
"In quite a few cases, some of them come to South Korea," the minister admitted.
Yun also described as "extremely unusual" the scale of the purge in North Korea.
The brutality of Kim's consolidation of power may suggest instability, but analysts can find no indications otherwise of an imminent collapse of Pyongyang's seat of power. The country’s leadership has followed a succession from father to son over three generations since the nation was founded ahead of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since then tens of thousands of North Koreans have risked their lives to reach South Korea, which offers refuge to defectors despite regular threats by Pyongyang.
