A North Korea defector is telling NBC News that the world “should be ready to deal with” the country’s dictator, who he says is “desperate.”

Thae Yong Ho, who recently defected after serving as a diplomat in the United Kingdom, said Kim Jong Un is "desperate in maintaining his rule by relying on his nuclear weapons and [intercontinental ballistic missiles]."

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"Once he sees that there is any kind of sign of a tank or an imminent threat from America, then he would use his nuclear weapons with ICBM," he told NBC.

Thae’s comments come as the Trump administration works to develop its policy on the rogue nation.

“Well if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you,” Trump told the Financial Times in an interview published ahead of Trump's meeting this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonGary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November Kushner says 'Alice in Wonderland' describes Trump presidency: Woodward book Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE during his trip to East Asia last month discussed how to combat Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions with his Chinese counterpart.

But Thae maintained that the way to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue is to eliminate the country’s dictator.

"The final and the real solution to the North Korean nuclear issue is to eliminate Kim Jong Un from the post,” he said.