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[NyMartin90]

Kim Jong Un wants to meet Trump, will never give up nukes, says defector
Seoul (CNN)The only way to change North Korea's destiny is to change its leader, says the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect in almost 20 years.

Thae Yong Ho was number two in the North Korean embassy in London before he escaped with his wife and two sons, arriving in South Korea in August.
"As long as Kim Jong Un is in power, there'll be no chance for the world to improve the human rights issue" or cancel "the nuclear program," he says.
Thae's initial hopes that Kim's youth and overseas studies would make him a reformer were soon destroyed as he saw more and more of his fellow high-ranking officials being executed, almost, he says, on a whim.
"If Kim Jong Un decides to kill someone, if he thinks that he is a threat or he scared him, he just wants to get rid of him, that is the present reality of North Korea," he says, adding that he knows more elites will defect.
A South Korean think-tank affiliated with the country's intelligence agency (INSS) assesses at least 340 people have been ordered to be executed since Kim took power in December 2011.
RELATED: What North Korean defections mean
Talking to Trump
Thae says after his initial surprise that President Donald Trump won the US election, Kim now sees it as "a good opportunity for him to open a kind of compromise with the new American administration."
But Thae insists Kim will only talk on his terms, pointing to the leader's New Year's Address.
"The level of this New Year's speech is almost blunt blackmail," says Thae.
In the address, Kim made it clear that if the US continued its current policy against North Korea, he would continue to add nuclear weapons to the country's military capability.
"He called it pre-emptive strike capability," says Thae. "That is ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missiles]."
During his campaign, President Trump said he would be open to meeting Kim. Thae makes a plea for the president to reconsider, saying it would give the North Korean leader legitimacy he currently doesn't have in his own country.
North Korea tourist photos, as seen by defectors.
North Korea tourist photos, as seen by defectors
"Even Chinese President Xi Jinping and even Russian President Putin -- they haven't even met Kim Jong Un," he says.
Thae claims that despite commanding loyalty through fear, Kim is still struggling to secure the legitimacy enjoyed by his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.
"After 5 years in power, he couldn't even tell the North Korean people about his date of birth, when he was born, about his mother, his relationship with his grandfather," he says.
Sanctions are working
Thae says sanctions passed last March by the United Nations Security Council -- described at the time as "ground-breaking" and "unprecedented" -- are working.
He says Kim wanted to establish 14 special economic zones inside North Korea and set up two ministries to encourage foreign investment, but these two ministries have since been dissolved.

Sanctions are working
Thae says sanctions passed last March by the United Nations Security Council -- described at the time as "ground-breaking" and "unprecedented" -- are working.
He says Kim wanted to establish 14 special economic zones inside North Korea and set up two ministries to encourage foreign investment, but these two ministries have since been dissolved.
He also says the sanctions are a "very, very strong factor" in the North Korean economy and have a "psychological effect on North Korean people and high ranking officials."
But they're not enough.
In keeping with President Trump's line, Thae says China needs to be persuaded to do more. He says it needs to prevent natural resources being smuggled across the border from North Korea for cash, and also has to take North Korea's nuclear program more seriously.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/asia/ambassador-north-korea-defector-interview/index.html

Past presidents who have met North Korean leaders:
Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

 

[eizarus]

Shit's sounding more like a comic book storyline by the day.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

The North Koreans. Lovely people. Rich in history with a great man leading them. Tremendous discussions with Kim Jong Un and you see the parades from his office and the crowds wanting a glimpse of him.

Almost as big as my inauguration. Almost but not quite.

 

[lazygecko]

Clinton only met Kim Jong Il long after his term had ended to solve a situation with a captured journalist, right?

North Korea and the US have no diplomatic ties. It's the Swedish embassy that occasionally acts as a mediator for US interests to solve disputes.

 

[Impeccable]

My Sean Spicer impression: "I mean, yeah, sure Donald won't take this off the table. (Heh) He has been consistent from the start. You want to help defeat radical Islam? We need new allies. Look, if the President can strengthen our ties abroad, should we not? That is how these things work. You want to work with us? We'll meet."

 

[Ivan 3414]

A link would be nice

 

[RinsFury]

The Great Leader no doubt has some tips for The Great Cheeto on how to best rule with an iron fist.

 

[NyMartin90]

A link would be nice

Sorry
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/asia/ambassador-north-korea-defector-interview/index.html

 

[ClosingADoor]

It's nice to want things.

 

[Tugatrix]

They can share some cheese, and Tramp can stay there forever

 

[Busty]

Just like Kim Jong-il they will give Trump the honorary title of 'Men Ta Lee-il'.

 

[NyMartin90]

Clinton only met Kim Jong Il long after his term had ended to solve a situation with a captured journalist, right?

Yea it was to help get the journalists out.

 

[liquidtmd]

Originally read as Jong Un was saying Trump is a defector and wants to put him back on track

Don't worry Kim, he won't disappoint you

 

[Breakage]

Maybe he feels lonely.

 

[DrSlek]

There's an NK embassy in London??

 

[jerry113]

My Sean Spicer impression: "I mean, yeah, sure Donald won't take this off the table. (Heh) He has been consistent from the start. You want to help defeat radical Islam? We need new allies. Look, if the President can strengthen our ties abroad, should we not? That is how these things work. You want to work with us? We'll meet."

That's spot on.

 

[Seiryoden]

There's an NK embassy in London??

Yep, and it's a suburban house lol

 

[Busty]

There's an NK embassy in London??

It's the back room of a Chicken Shack and the Ambassador is an Uber driver, but yeah, it's there.

 

[Stead Fast]

Yep, and it's a suburban house lol

Quoting for accuracy since it seems too surreal to be true, but yeah. That's it. Legit.

 

[Dalibor68]

Crazy that Carter and Clinton visited them, didn't know that.

 

[eizarus]

It's the back room of a Chicken Shack and the Ambassador is an Uber driver, but yeah, it's there.

I wouldn't be surprised if that second part is true.

 

[slit]

I want to meet him too so I can puke in his presence so he understands how much he makes me sick!

 

[SolarMystic]

I want too see who would win in an IQ test. It could be close!

 

[Grenchel]

The new legend about great leader meeting the orange sun.

Maybe tump can get them a new animation suite tonl make better propaganda videos.

 

[VendettaRed07]

Trump is going to undue all of Dennis Rodman's hard work

 

[JustenP88]

Meeting Donald Trump doesn't legitimize anybody.

 

[Razmos]

2 tiny dicked idiots who would spend the whole time trying to outdo the other to make himself the bigger man.

 

[kmfdmpig]

The concept of legitimizing him within North Korea seems odd to me.

It's not like the North Korean people are likely to rise up and challenge him any day now. In their heart of hearts the people may not worship him as they claim to in public, but even so they don't have the means to escape let alone take over the country.

With that said, I don't think that meeting with him without massive concessions first would make any sense. Why reward them for years of belligerence and threats when there is no need to do so?

 

[UnluckyKate]

The North Koreans. Lovely people. Rich in history with a great man leading them. Tremendous discussions with Kim Jong Un and you see the parades from his office and the crowds wanting a glimpse of him.

Almost as big as my inauguration. Almost but not quite.

Perfect

 

[bengraven]

Great Leader Kim Jung Un, who's sighs bring storm clouds, fears the great power of God Emperor Trump, who's urine brings rainbows.

 

[Log4Girlz]

The North Koreans. Lovely people. Rich in history with a great man leading them. Tremendous discussions with Kim Jong Un and you see the parades from his office and the crowds wanting a glimpse of him.

Almost as big as my inauguration. Almost but not quite.

He's popular, but not quite as popular as MEEEEEEEE

 

[SgtCobra]

The North Koreans. Lovely people. Rich in history with a great man leading them. Tremendous discussions with Kim Jong Un and you see the parades from his office and the crowds wanting a glimpse of him.

Almost as big as my inauguration. Almost but not quite.

Totally spot on.