Changchun, China -- Choi continued, "Once North Chosun has the capacity to strike a heavy blow against the U.S., Japan or South Korea, then China will dissolve us and shift the responsibility for our destruction onto those three countries."

"In an extreme situation, Kim Jong Il will use all our nuclear weapons against South Korea, Japan and the U.S. In retaliation, the U.S. will burn North Chosun to the ground, in which case the only country remaining will be China."

"So, even though we boast of producing nuclear weapons, it does not really matter whether we possess them or not. Even if we survived using nuclear weapons against the U.S., we would ultimately face a tragic demise."

Therefore, “In reality, intellectuals have a cautious stance towards the nuclear issue,” Choi said, “Nuclear weapons will not help us survive in the end."

Moving towards the conclusion of such a scenario, he went on, "Even if the U.S. can dodge our nuclear weapons, they will not be able to evade the responsibility for any nuclear battle, which will result in them losing all their alliances in Asia. Therefore, China is planning to use North Korea’s nuclear weapons to remove its competitors in Asia such as South Korea and Japan."

When our reporter suggested that this was a charged and rather one-sided scenario, Choi maintained that "there is a certain logic" to such a mentality, explaining that it has recently surfaced widely among the North Korean elite.

Choi, who revealed the strength of anti-Chinese sentiment among the North Korean elite earlier in the interview, characterizes North Korea's dependence on China as akin to colonial subordination.

Paradoxically, he explained, what the North Korean elite fears the most is that, despite the fact that Pyongyang has conducted two nuclear tests which are not in China’s interests, aid from the latter has increased regardless, especially in recent years.

When our reporter pointed out to Choi that the Chinese government actually agreed to United Nations resolutions allowing for sanctions, and is said to have threatened North Korea as well, Choi explained, "They are just pretending to threaten us. Forms of trade with China, especially those under the guise of visiting relatives, have increased tremendously."

Regarding China's attitude, Choi said that North Korean intellectuals "acknowledge this as one facet of China's global governing strategy. Moving forward, our country (North Korea) will fall not due to the U.S., but due to China."

◆ Elite classes will not support Kim Jong Eun regime

Choi also told The Daily NK that the North Korean elite harbor great antipathy towards the Kim Jong Eun (formerly Woon) succession system.

"Intellectuals are quite concerned about the direction in which the current state of affairs will take North Chosun. So the state has officially issued decrees against intellectuals, trying to stop us coming to our senses.”

The Korean Workers' Party's Central Committee issued a decree, "Strengthening the cultural education of intellectuals and university students," on May 20th, in which it was noted, "We have to engage in a concentrated ideological offensive to prevent these groups from exposure to unsound ideological elements. In particular, the net of juche should be cast widely to prevent the ideological deterioration of young college students whose duty it is to lead the future of our country."

Additionally, Choi said, "On June 20th, a special lecture called 'Let’s follow the patriotism of bright youth captain Kim Jong Eun" was given at every university, although it only presented facts that are commonly known."

"Perhaps the people who have the most opinion about the succession issue are intellectuals and university students,” he concluded, “As a result; the state regulates these groups strongly."

Finally, Choi said angrily, "Honestly speaking, how many people will support Kim Jong Eun's succession? Even if the state were to mount a successful propaganda campaign, does it make sense to govern a country via a three generation dynasty? What kind of a person would actually be in support of this?"

"How can father to son to grandson rule a country generation after generation? That is a completely feudal Communist state. Kim Jong Eun's designation as successor, which will be followed by one of his sons if unchecked, is just too much."