大象传媒

As North Korea successfully tests a major new weapon, we speak to its most famous defector, Thae Yong-Ho. He was North Korea's deputy ambassador to the UK. An established member of North鈥檚 political establishment, he had previously held other diplomatic posts in Denmark and Sweden. Then in 2016 he made the monumental - and extremely dangerous - decision to defect to South Korea. He remains the highest-ranking diplomat in recent years to defect from North Korea. In a wide-ranging interview he told World Update's Dan Damon about the mindset of other high-ranking members of the North Korean regime and whether they do still believe in the idea of a socialist system.

(IMAGE: A video-grab from AFPTV footage of Thae Yong-Ho at the North Korean Embassy in London, November 2014 CREDIT: AFP PHOTO / AFPTV / KATIE SCHUBAUBRKATIE SCHUBAUBR/AFP/Getty Images)