Aide to N. Korean leader's ousted uncle seeks asylum in South-media

SEOUL (Reuters) - A man who managed funds for the ousted uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fled the isolated country and is seeking asylum in South Korea, local media said on Friday.

The aide is currently being protected by South Korean officials in a secret location in China, cable news network YTN said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

If true, the defection would be the first instance in years of a significant insider from the Pyongyang regime switching sides.

Jang Song Thaek, whose marriage to Kim's aunt and proximity to the young leader made him one of the most powerful men in North Korea, was reportedly relieved of his posts last month, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) has said.

His aide requested asylum about two months ago and is currently in China under the protection of South Korean officials, said YTN, adding that the man has knowledge of funds held by the Kim family.

A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, Kim Eui-do, said the defection report could not be confirmed.

The NIS said two of Jang's close associates were executed last month.

These reports have not been confirmed either.

YTN said Jang's aide fled to China sometime in late September or early October and that Jang could have been sacked because of this.

"A source familiar with the matter said the aide immediately requested asylum from the South Korean government and South Korean officials are currently protecting him at a secret place in China," it said.

China, which is allied to Pyongyang, usually resists allowing defectors from North Korea to seek asylum elsewhere.

YTN said the aide tried to escape to Laos, a route favored by other defectors, but Chinese authorities prevented him from leaving.

U.S. officials have also sought custody of the aide, the television station said.

The last major defection was Hwang Jang Yop, a high-level Worker's Party ideologue who was the architect of the Juche (self-reliance) ideology of North Korea, who sought asylum in the South in 1997.