Former North Korean diplomat urges missing colleague in Italy to go to South Korea

Jo Song Gil disappeared with his wife after leaving the embassy without notice in early November

North Korea's acting ambassador to Italy Jo Song Gil (second right) has not been seen since early November and is believed to have gone into hiding wife his wife (AP)

A former North Korean diplomat has urged Pyongyang's ambassador to Italy to defect to South Korea, following a report that he was seeking asylum in the United States.

Jo Song Gil disappeared with his wife after leaving the embassy without notice in early November, South Korean lawmakers said on Thursday.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that Pyongyang's top diplomat in Italy had sought asylum from an unidentified Western country.

Mr Jo, 48, has been acting ambassador in Rome since October 2017 after Italy expelled then-ambassador Mun Jong-nam in protest over a North Korean nuclear test.

Thae Yong-ho, who abandoned his own post in 2016 before defecting to South Korea with his wife and children, said he went to the same university and previously worked with Mr Jo.

Since defecting he has become a public speaker and regularly delivers speeches in Seoul about the reality of his impoverished but nuclear-armed former homeland.

In an open letter posted to his website, he addressed the rumours and encouraged him to follow in his footsteps.

“From the day reports that your family disappeared in Italy came out, when my family wakes up in the morning, we go to the internet and look for news of your family.”

“When you come to South Korea, you do not have to worry about personal safety. To protect me, several security guards stick closely and guard me every day,” Thae wrote. “The country also provides rental housing and resettlement funds until you safely settle down.”

He went on to describe diplomats like him coming to the South as a “duty, not a choice”, adding it was the answer for those committed to unification.

“If you come to South Korea, the day when our suffering colleagues and North Korean citizens are liberated from the fetters would be moved forward,” Thae said in the letter released on his website.

“If you come to Seoul, even more of our colleagues would follow suit, and the unification would be accomplished by itself.”

A spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in told CNN his office had no information about the case.