From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is the day.

Today, from the US perspective, North Korea is an existential threat, a hostile nation

dangerously deluded and ready for war.

What's the North Korean perspective, a rare interview with the other side? It's Thursday, October 12th.

Nicholas Christoff, just to start, how do you even get in

with Korea? How did that work? So, I've been twice before and each time, afterward, I was banned

for a while. I had last been in 2005, and so I had tried periodically to get visas again,

especially in the last five years and wasn't getting anywhere. And then a year ago, there was a

new ambassador to the United Nations. I pushed quite hard, invested some effort in negotiating with

North Korean diplomats, and also, of course, negotiating with another crucial party, my wife.

Who may have feared that this was not the wisest?

If your wife is encouraging you to go to North Korea, then that's not a good sign either.

So, it finally came through. We initially were going to go in early September, and then they

told us those dates would not work and give us new dates at the very end of September.

Make sure I heard this right. Did you say it took five years, essentially,

negotiations to get into North Korea?

Yeah, that's about right. That's extraordinary.

I have a long history with North Korean officials, and so they know my work, and they're very respectful,

but I think they believe that I overemphasize human rights, and I think they think I don't

fabricate things and accurate which they like, but I think they also believe I

vastly exaggerate the importance of human rights issues.

So, you have a strong sense that North Korea knows exactly who you are, and they're vetting

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