WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. government officials will speak with the highest-ranking North Korean defector about that country's inner workings Monday, the New York Times reported.
After six years under house arrest in Seoul, South Korea, the 80-year-old Hwang Jang Yop will talk with Washington's elite about the inner workings of North Korea's secretive government.
Hwang, who was North Korea's chief ideologue and served as tutor to North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Il, will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meet with Bush administration officials and give interviews.
For four decades, Hwang was part of North Korea's Communist dictatorship, rising to become president of Kim Il Sung University and secretary of the governing Korean Workers' Party.
In 1997, Hwang defected to Seoul, and his family paid a steep price. His wife and one daughter reportedly committed suicide, while his son, another daughter and his granddaughters are believed to be in slave labor camps.
