US Senate seeks to have Hwang Jang-Yop stand witness

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee is seeking to have Hawng Jang-Yop, former North Korean Workers` Party secretary now living in Seoul, stand witness in a hearing on North Korean human rights to be held May 23, it was learned Monday.

A diplomatic source in Washington said that the Senate committee decided to hold the hearing on North Korea on May 23. ``It has not been decided whether Hwang will attend it, but negotiations are under way over his participation in the hearing between Seoul and Washington,`` Chairman Jesse Helms of the committee wrote in a letter to Hwang in November last year, inviting him to visit the United States, and Hwang replied in February that he could comply with the invitation.

However, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Tuesday that the U.S. side had neither sent an official invitation to Hwang nor promised to guarantee his safety.

``The government`s official position is that it will positively consider (Hwang`s U.S. visit), in case the U.S. Congress makes an official request,`` an NIS official said.

Han Ki-Heung eligius@donga.com