Two North Korean Defectors Challenge in UK Local Elections... Could Be First Elected Officials in Western Society

Jihyun Park and Timothy Jo Announce Candidacy for District Councilor
UK Conservative Party Projects Image of 'Fair Opportunity'

A photo of Park Ji-hyun, a defector from North Korea running as a Conservative Party councilor candidate in the Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] In the upcoming local elections in the UK on the 6th (local time), two candidates of North Korean defector origin, Park Jihyun and Timothy Cho, are reportedly challenging for district council positions as Conservative Party candidates for the first time in history, attracting international attention. If elected, they will become the first elected officials of North Korean defector origin in Western society.

According to foreign media including the BBC in the UK on the 2nd, two candidates of North Korean defector origin, Park Jihyun and Timothy Cho, are running as Conservative Party candidates in the district council elections in Greater Manchester, England. The UK Conservative Party is said to have strategically nominated these candidates to gain an image of providing equal opportunities to politicians from refugee backgrounds.

Park, who is running for the district council of the Bury Borough in Greater Manchester, England, is a North Korean defector who escaped to China during the so-called "Arduous March," a great famine in North Korea in 1998. She fled to China after her father, uncle, and other family members starved to death, but was forcibly repatriated to North Korea in 2004, where she suffered torture and persecution. She later successfully defected again and settled in the UK in 2008.

She has also served as the head of "Jinggeomdari," a civil organization aimed at protecting the human rights of North Korean women defectors and North Korean children, and received a human rights award from Amnesty International UK.

A photo of Timothy Cho, a defector from North Korea running as a Conservative Party councilor candidate in the Tameside Borough of Greater Manchester, England, UK.
Photo by Yonhap News

Similarly, Cho, who is running as a candidate in the Tameside Borough within Greater Manchester, defected from North Korea in 2004 and was granted refugee status in the UK in 2008, where he settled. He survived his childhood as one of the so-called "flower children," wandering children in North Korea. He escaped to China but was forcibly repatriated again, and after repeated escapes, he finally entered the UK.

After passing the high school equivalency exam, Cho earned a master's degree in International Relations and Security Studies from the University of Liverpool. He has worked as a parliamentary assistant and currently serves as the administrator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea (APPG-NK) in the UK Parliament.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.