Who is, and was, this man, and why is he important? He was born in 1925 in what has become the center of the evil results of his work, Hamgyong Bukto, the far northeastern NK state that houses incredible poverty to this day, as well as the infamous Hoeryong Concentration Camp, among other atrocities.

During World War II he is actually studying in Japan. Then to Pyongyang for more schooling. Here he becomes a Communist. He furthers his studies of Marx at the Kim Il Sung Universtity, achieving acclaim as Pyongyang's number one student of and crusader for the Communist way. Then comes the Korean War. Off to the Soviet Union for yet more study. There he becomes Doctor Hwang. Upon his return to Kim Il Sung's school, he is elevated to head lecturer of philosophy. Later he serves as that school's President.

More advancements follow. Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly for 3 terms. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly. Worker's Party Secretary for Ideological Affairs. Chairman of Foreign Diplomacy. Co-chief Secretary of the Worker's Party Central Committee. Vice-Chairman of the Fatherland Peace and Unification Agency. And from 1993-1997, Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

And in 1997? Last February we celebrated the tenth anniversary of Hwang's dumping of the DPRK. Yes, he just leaves. After all the study, the labor, the educating of thousands of North Korea's young, and after contributing to Kim literature to the extent that he is known as the "architect" of Juche, the "self-reliant" philosophy of the NK Kingdom, he just vanishes. People to this day are not sure why.

The forever optimistic- some say naive- argue that North Korea is just plain evil and any thinking man will eventually get out. But that doesn't explain why myriads of other thinking men do not get out. Why this mastermind? Why now?

Others, a bit more cynical, conclude that Hwang was about to be "purged" in 1997 because of his growing awareness of "the truth". Perhaps a slip of the tongue or the pen had him in hot water. He really remains a committed Communist, they say, but he is scared out of his mind and fled to safety.

We cannot discount the thinking of the conspiracy theorists either. Not totally. Stranger things have happened. These folks believe that none other than Mr. Kim himself set up the whole affair. the "escape", the "defection", the speeches after the "conversion." For those speeches were filled with warnings to the South that an invasion was surely near. True psychological pressure being exerted by one who specializes in such things.

Mr. Hwang's presence in the free world reminds us of the evil that stalks, seeking someone to devour. The fact that we do not even know the truth about one who has come out from the paranoia of North Korea, lets us know that the world is not a safe place to be these days. But then it never was. If ever the gift of discernment was needed, it is now. It has been promised to Spirit-filled believers who want it. I offer that as the prayer suggestion of the day. Oh to know the good from the evil. Oh to know the excellent from the good. Oh for the power within to choose the excellent and not be content until it is ours.