Defector: N Korea pushing to develop nukes ‘at all costs’ by 2017

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A high-profile North Korean defector said on Tuesday that Kim Jong-un is determined to develop a nuclear weapons capability by next year.

“Due to domestic political procedures, North Korea calculates that South Korea and the US will not be able to take physical or military actions to deter North Korea’s nuclear development,” Thae Yong-ho, the former second highest North Korean diplomat at the embassy in London, told Yonhap News Agency, as reported by CNN.

Kim “would never abandon nuclear weapons even with US$1 trillion or US$10 trillion”, he said, adding, “It’s not a matter of incentives.”

On what motivated him to defect to South Korea, Thae said Kim is “rotting from the inside”, and he had resolved to help “dismantle” it and “save our people from an approaching nuclear disaster”.

The country is now believed to have several nuclear weapons that could pose a risk to the U.S. and its allies in the surrounding region.

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