ID :
19592
Mon, 09/15/2008 - 16:55
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/19592
The shortlink copeid
Kim's death won't trigger upheaval in N. Korea: former party sec'y
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is unlikely to be thrown into chaos even if its leader, Kim Jong-il, dies in the near future, a Seoul-based Web site said Monday, quoting Hwang Jang-yop, a former secretary of the North's Workers' Party.
"China would never remain a mere spectator to a possible political upheaval in North Korea," Hwang was quoted by www.chogabje.com as saying in a meeting with a group of South Korean acquaintances last Friday.
"As long as China doesn't want any political chaos to erupt in North Korea, there will be over 100 persons who are willing to replace Kim."
Kim has reportedly collapsed from a stroke a few months ago, triggering speculation about his successor.
Hwang, the highest North Korean official ever to defect to South Korea, noted that China will likely wield decisive influence over unification on the Korean Peninsula.
"It doesn't seem that China is intervening in North Korea by sending military troops to the North. But China may change its attitude if North Korea is thrown into chaos, and the U.S. is moving to intervene," said Hwang.
Hwang also stressed that North Korea should be led to pursue a China-like openness policy in the wake of Kim's death.
"China is unlikely to stand idly by if North Korea's reform and openness policy shows signs of leading to demand for free democracy. North Korea's pursuit of Deng Xiaoping-style reforms would turn the communist state into a free democracy system, paving the ground for its absorption into South Korea," Hwang was also quoted as saying.
Hwang, a key architect of the North's ruling ideology of "juche," meaning "self-reliance," has been a strong critic of the North Korean regime since his defection to the South in 1997.
"China would never remain a mere spectator to a possible political upheaval in North Korea," Hwang was quoted by www.chogabje.com as saying in a meeting with a group of South Korean acquaintances last Friday.
"As long as China doesn't want any political chaos to erupt in North Korea, there will be over 100 persons who are willing to replace Kim."
Kim has reportedly collapsed from a stroke a few months ago, triggering speculation about his successor.
Hwang, the highest North Korean official ever to defect to South Korea, noted that China will likely wield decisive influence over unification on the Korean Peninsula.
"It doesn't seem that China is intervening in North Korea by sending military troops to the North. But China may change its attitude if North Korea is thrown into chaos, and the U.S. is moving to intervene," said Hwang.
Hwang also stressed that North Korea should be led to pursue a China-like openness policy in the wake of Kim's death.
"China is unlikely to stand idly by if North Korea's reform and openness policy shows signs of leading to demand for free democracy. North Korea's pursuit of Deng Xiaoping-style reforms would turn the communist state into a free democracy system, paving the ground for its absorption into South Korea," Hwang was also quoted as saying.
Hwang, a key architect of the North's ruling ideology of "juche," meaning "self-reliance," has been a strong critic of the North Korean regime since his defection to the South in 1997.
