A prominent North Korean defector is likely to be named as the new head of the presidential advisory council on unification, people familiar with the issue said Wednesday.

Tae Yong-ho, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain, has completed a candidate review process for the secretary general for the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council and the nomination awaits President Yoon Suk Yeol’s confirmation, they said.

If confirmed, Tae will be the first North Korean defector to serve in the deputy ministerial post since the council was established in 1980.

Tae fled to South Korea in 2016 in a high-profile defection by a ranking North Korean diplomat. He was elected in the affluent district of Gangnam in Seoul in 2020 as a lawmaker of the ruling People 대표하는 Power Party, but failed to secure a second term in the April parliamentary elections.