Attempted assassin of top North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop jailed

A South Korean court has jailed a North Korean spy for 10 years for plotting to assassinate North Korea’s high-ranking defector. 

The 46-year-old would-be assassin, identified only as Lee, admitted he was sent to murder Hwang Jang-yop. Lee says he was trained by Pyongyang's top espionage unit and posed as a defector to enter the South with the mission to kill Mr Hwang.

But he was arrested during routine questioning given to all defectors by South Korean authorities.

Hwang Jang-yop was a former tutor to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Mr Hwang, 87, defected to the South 14 years ago. He died late last year in Seoul from natural causes.