Updated 12:35pm
The most senior North Korean diplomat in Italy is said have disappeared amid unconfirmed reports he's seeking asylum.
Jo Song-gil was serving as the charge d'affaires at Pyongyang's embassy in Rome, and was scheduled to finish his assignment in late November.
The 48-year-old is now believed to sought protection from Italian authorities last month, South Korean media reported.
South Korean intelligence services briefed lawmakers in the country about the situation during a closed-door meeting today.
The Yonhap news agency reports that government MP Kim Min-ki told reporters that politicians were informed that the North Korean diplomat deserted the embassy in early November and disappeared together with his wife.
However, it is not known where the diplomat is now and officials could not confirm whether he'd sought asylum.
Mr Jo had been serving as acting head of the Italian mission since 2017, when the ambassador Mun Jong-nam was ordered to leave in response to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons tests.
High-ranking North Korean diplomats defecting is not without precedent.
In 2016, it emerged that diplomat Thae Yong-ho - who had been serving in the North Korean embassy in London - had defected to South Korea with his family.
Mr Thae told Al Jazeera he made his decision as he "didn't believe" in the North's regime.