In his first interview since crossing the South more than a year ago, Ryu Hyeon-woo told CNN that “North Korea’s nuclear power is directly linked to the stability of the regime” – and Kim probably believes that nuclear weapons the key to his survival. .
Ryu also said that previous US administrations had put themselves in a corner by demanding denial of advance in negotiations with the totalitarian state.
“The US cannot withdraw from denial and Kim Jong Un cannot unleash,” he added.
Ryu and his family crossed over to South Korea in September 2019, but their actions were only announced last week. Ryu was determined to give their teenage daughter a better life and said he and his wife had planned their escape for about a month while living in Kuwait.
Ryu said that if they had been captured, North Korean agents would have quickly taken them all back to Pyongyang for a certain punishment, as apostasy is seen as a major embarrassment to the Kim regime and is not taken lightly.
They finally told their daughter about the plan while pretending to drive her to school.
“Come with mom and dad to find freedom,” Ryu recalls, telling his daughter. “She was shocked and then said, ‘All right. “That’s all she said. ‘
Ryu took his family to the South Korean embassy in Kuwait to claim asylum. They traveled to South Korea a few days later.
Conviction of North Korea has an enormous cost, and the defectors must immediately sever the ties of all family left behind in their homeland.
The regime often punishes nuclear and extended families of defectors for preventing people from leaving, Ryu said – especially diplomats. Those posted abroad are often forced to leave a child hostage at home, to make sure their parents are not mistaken.
“I think North Korea in the 21st century has such feudal collective punishment is appalling,” Ryu said.
He is now worried about his three siblings and the 83-year-old mother who is still in North Korea. “I just want to see them live long,” Ryu said. “Any thought of them being punished for what I did hurts my heart.”
He is also concerned about elderly parents of his wife living in Pyongyang.
North Korea has long been accused of using its embassies as cash cows for the ruling Kim family. Ryu said that although he was a trained diplomat who dealt with politics, there were also ‘economic workers’ who were assigned to diplomatic posts. Ryu gave them a quota on the amount of money they should earn for the state.
Ryu said only China and Russia are bigger cash earners for the North Korean workers’ regime than the Gulf countries Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE – at least until 2017, when the United Nations punished Pyongyang for its repeated missile and nuclear tests. by preventing nations from employing its workers.
“Because of the UN resolution, most workers have left the Gulf region,” he said.
Ryu was also posted from 2010 to 2013 in Syria, a close ally of North Korea. While Ryu has been charged with overseeing relations with Syrian politicians, his compatriots have sold conventional weapons to the Bashar al-Assad regime, including long-range multiple launcher. artillery and air defense system. However, Ryu said the country’s bloody civil war forced Pyongyang to pull its staff out of the country. He said he had not heard of the weapons with the Syrians since he left the country.
Ryu’s experience in the Middle East took a closer look at how the United States dealt with Iran’s nuclear program during former President Barack Obama’s government. He believes that the experience of US President Joe Biden will be useful.
“Based on his experience in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, I have no doubt that he will be able to handle the North Korean nuclear issue wisely,” Ryu said.
Ryu said he believes North Korea is willing to negotiate a reduction in its nuclear weapons, but is unlikely to ever give them up completely. However, he said sanctions may have played a factor in pushing North Korea to the negotiating table in 2018, when Kim and former US President Donald Trump met for their historic summit in Singapore.
Many analysts believe that Kim came to the negotiating table because he had already developed nuclear weapons and successfully tested a long-range missile that could reach American territory.
“The current sanctions against North Korea are unprecedented and strong,” Ryu said. “I think the sanctions against North Korea should continue.”
Ryu also said it was important not to abandon the issue of human rights, which were largely swept under the rug, during key talks with the Trump administration.
Pyongyang claims to be a socialist paradise and denies allegations of gross human rights violations. However, North Korea does not allow freedom of speech or assembly, and citizens cannot leave. Kim’s government is accused of running a system of gulags and political prison camps that house more than 120,000 men, women and children.
“Human rights are a matter of morality, and in the North Korean regime, the human rights issue is a sensitive and serious matter,” Ryu said.
Looking back over the past 16 months, Ryu says he only regrets what could happen to his remaining relatives in Pyongyang. He and his wife believe they did the right thing for their daughter by taking her away from her homeland.
Ryu told CNN he asked his daughter what she liked best about her new home. “I like that I can use the internet as much as I want,” she replied.