A North Korean official managing money for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Europe has disappeared, raising speculation that he might have defected with a large amount of state funds, a local media report said Friday.

Citing anonymous sources, Dong-A Ilbo, a major daily newspaper here, reported that the official in charge of money management for the so-called No. 39 office of the Workers' Party vanished in June.

The office is known for running money for Kim's regime.

The North Korean official is currently staying in an unidentified European country. He and his two sons are also under the protection of local authorities, the report claimed.

The media report, which has not been independently verified, said that he disappeared with billions of dollars that had been under his management. He was reported to have worked in the same European country for the past 20 years.

If confirmed, this would mark yet another high-profile defection of a North Korean following the Seoul government's announcement on Wednesday that Thae Yong-ho, minister at the North's mission in London, defected to the South with his wife and children.

The seasoned diplomat's defection is seen as a sign that the international community's stepped-up sanctions on the North following its nuclear and missile provocations is taking a toll even on the country's elite.  (Yonhap)