(SEOUL): A North Korean official managing money for Kim Jong-un is believed to have defected with a large amount of state funds, a South Korean daily has reported.

According to the South's news agency Yonhap, the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said the official had been in charge of money management for the North Korean leader in Europe via the so-called No 39 office of the Workers' Party.

He disappeared in June with billions of dollars to an unidentified European country, the newspaper reported citing anonymous sources.

If confirmed, this would be the second high-profile defection of a North Korean following that of North Korea's deputy ambassador to Britain, Thae Yong-ho, who is currently in Seoul with his family.