Two senior North Korean scientists defect -activist

SEOUL, May 19 (Reuters) A senior North Korean scientist and a physician have defected from the communist state and are seeking asylum in the South, a South Korean activist was quoted as saying today.

Both may have valuable intelligence on the North's military programmes, the report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The provincial head of the North's federation of scientists escaped to China in March, the activist, Do Hee-youn, said.

Do heads the Seoul-based Citizens' Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees.

The physician was the head of a military hospital that had treated senior military officers. She defected in January.

The defectors, whose real names were not given, are awaiting passage to South Korea in a Southeast Asian country.

Do could not be reached for comment and the South's foreign ministry declined to confirm the report, citing its policy of not commenting on individual cases of North Korean defectors.

REUTERS SHB RN1549