DATE=3/5/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=KOREA DEFECTOR / US (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-273300

BYLINE=HYUN-SUNG KHANG

DATELINE=SEOUL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: South Korea's intelligence agency says a leading North Korean defector has agreed to testify before a US Senate hearing. As Hyun-Sung Khang reports from Seoul, Hwang Jang Yup has been a fierce and outspoken critic of Pyongyang since he defected four years ago.

TEXT: South Korea's intelligence agency says 78-year-old defector, Hwang Jang Yup, has agreed to testify on North Korea before the US Foreign Relations Committee, following an invitation from committee chairman, Senator Jesse Helms.

The agency says that Mr. Hwang has written to Senator Helms agreeing to appear before the committee, if US and South Korean authorities make arrangements for his safety.

Hwang Jang Yup is the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect to the South. A former confidant of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, he has been credited with devising Pyongyang's ruling ideology of "juche" or self-reliance.

Since his defection in 1997, Mr. Hwang has been an outspoken critic of the North Korean leadership and has attacked Seoul's policy of engaging Pyongyang.

His comments have put him on a collision course with the South Korean government. Last year, he was fired as chairman of a research institute run by the National Intelligence Service. He accused the agency of suppressing his freedom of speech.

Mr. Hwang will need permission from the South Korean intelligence service before travelling to the United States, as he is still under protective custody. (signed)

NEB/HK/HSK/HB/JO/PLM