Kim Jong Un's days in power are numbered, high-level North Korean defector says

Former North Korean deputy ambassador to the UK Thae Yong Ho speaks with media at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Seoul. (Ed Jones, Pool Photo via AP)

An ex-diplomat described as "human scum" by North Korea spoke out Wednesday about why he risked escaping the oppressive regime with his wife and two sons, and claimed that corruption would soon doom the regime.

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Thae Yong Ho, a former minister at the North Korean Embassy in London, was the highest-level North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea when he got out with his family last August.

"I am sure that more defections of my colleagues will take place, since North Korea is already on a slippery slope," he told reporters.

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After his sons, now 20 and 27, learned about life in Britain, they started asking him questions such as why North Korea banned internet use and conducted rampant executions, he said.

Thae, who said as a diplomat abroad he had the privilege of access to outside information, said he decided to talk frankly with them about North Korea. He concluded that his sons would have "miserable" lives if they returned home because they had come to know the truth about the country.

Ahead of their defection to South Korea, Thae said he told his sons that he was going to "cut the chains of slavery and you are free men."

He said his sons are happy and are "now feeling a true sense of freedom" in South Korea.

Thae also revealed that the dictator Kim Jong Un was open to meeting with President Donald Trump, but he told CNN that Kim would talk only on his own terms.

The former diplomat told reporters that he was lucky to have been able to bring both of his sons to London, unlike other North Korean diplomats who are forced to leave some of their children at home as "hostages."

His sons' British friends at school had made fun of them over the nature of their homeland, he said. For instance, when they grew long hair, their friends laughed and asked whether they could be arrested in North Korea because they had heard all young men were required to have short haircuts.

"These kinds of questions bombarded my sons," Thae said.

Thae said he initially had some hopes for Kim but eventually fell into "despair" after watching him execute officials and pursue development of nuclear weapons. North Korea accused Thae of embezzling government money and committing other crimes.

Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, took office in late 2011 after his dictator father's death. He has since orchestrated a series of high-profile executions, purges and dismissals in what outside analysts say is an attempt to bolster his grip on power. Kim's pursuit of nuclear weapons has drawn tough international sanctions.

Since his release into society last month following months of custody by South Korea's intelligence agency, Thae has conducted a series of media interviews and appeared on various TV programs in what he says is an attempt to reveal the truth about North Korea.

Thae described himself as a big fan of South Korean dramas and other TV programs while serving in London, and said ordinary citizens in North Korea also enjoy watching them secretly at home. He said if North Koreas are able to obtain more information about their country's situation, it could trigger a public uprising against Kim's government.

Thae, reportedly under a police protection program, said he doesn't worry about any possible attempts by North Korean agents to kill him. "I am quite confident that without sacrifice by any individual or any group ... reunification or the elimination of the Kim Jong Un regime cannot be achieved," he said.

Thae is the most senior North Korean diplomat to defect to South Korea. In 1997, the North Korean ambassador to Egypt fled but resettled in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.