This photo, taken Oct. 31, shows Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party. Yonhap

Jo Song-gil, a former North Korean acting ambassador to Italy, works as a researcher at a state-run think tank in South Korea, having defected here a few years ago, according to a ruling party lawmaker.

Jo recently assumed a post at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) operated by the South's National Intelligence Agency, Rep. Tae Yong-ho of the ruling People Power Party told Yonhap News Agency earlier this week.

"He joined the INSS probably in October," he said. Tae defected to the South in 2016 while serving as a minister at the North's embassy in London and was elected as a lawmaker in 2020.

Jo entered the South after disappearing with his wife in late 2018, when he was charge d'affaires at the North Korean Embassy in Rome. (Yonhap)