Washington, Nov 01: The only way to combat North
Korea's dictator is for the world to unite against him as it
has against terrorism, North Korean's top-ranking defector
has said in an interview.
On his first trip to the United States, Hwang Jang
Yop also said he believes North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is
fully prepared to start a war and that there's no telling
whether Kim will ever give up his nuclear program.
"It's like ... asking whether a venomous snake will
bite or not,'' Hwang said in the interview.
The 81-year-old Hwang is a former chief of North
Korea's Parliament who once mentored Kim and then became the
country's highest-ranking defector in 1997.
He was in Washington this week to share his views
about the regime with the Pentagon, State Department and
other U.S. officials in an administration that has been
trying to negotiate to bring an end to Pyongyang's nuclear
weapons program. A senior adminstration official said
Thursday that sessions with Hwang were "very productive.''
China's second-highest leader yesterday returned
from North Korea with an agreement "in principle'' from
Pyongyang to rejoin talks.
But Hwang said that he's personally uninterested in
the outcome of such talks, which also include South Korea,
China, Japan and Russia.
Bureau Report
