US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Washington is ready to begin exploratory talks with Pyongyang “without preconditions,” but only after a “period of quiet” without new nuclear or missile tests.
Tillerson’s remarks appeared to mark a shift in state department policy, which had previously required North Korea to show it was “serious” about giving up its nuclear arsenal before contacts could start.
Moreover, the language was a long way from repeated comments by US President Donald Trump that such contacts are a “waste of time.”
Photo: AFP
The US had been talking to China about what each nation would do in the event of a conflict or regime collapse in North Korea, Tillerson said, adding that the Trump administration had given Beijing assurances that US troops would pull back to the 38th parallel, which divides North and South Korea, and that the only US concern would be to secure the regime’s nuclear weapons.
Earlier this week it emerged that China is building a network of refugee camps along its 1,416km border with North Korea, in preparation for a potential exodus that could be unleashed by conflict or the collapse of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s regime.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, Tillerson made it explicit that the message to Pyongyang had changed and that the North Korean regime did not have to commit to full disarmament before direct diplomacy could take off.
“We are ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk. We are ready to have the first meeting without preconditions. Let’s just meet,” Tillerson said. “And then we can begin to lay out a roadmap.”
“It’s not realistic to say we are only going to talk if you come to the table ready to give up your program. They have too much invested in it,” he said.
“Let’s just meet and let’s talk about the weather,” he added. “If you want ... and talk about whether it’s going to be a square table or a round table if that’s what you’re excited about.”
However, he laid down one condition, saying there should be a “period of quiet” in which such preliminary talks could take place.
“It’s going to be tough to talk if in the middle of our talks you decide to test another device,” he said. “We need a period of quiet.”
Tillerson’s comments came as Kim vowed to make North Korea the “world’s strongest nuclear power.”
Kim told workers behind the recent test of a new missile that the nation “will victoriously advance and leap as the strongest nuclear power and military power in the world” at a ceremony on Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Washington-based Arms Control Association head Daryl Kimball said that the US would have to carry out confidence-building measures for meaningful talks to start.
“Secretary Tillerson’s proposal for direct talks with North Korea without preconditions is overdue and welcome,” Kimball said. “However, in order to get to such talks going, the US side as well as North Korea must demonstrate more restraint. For North Korea, that means a halt to all nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and for the United States, refraining from military maneuvers and overflights that appear to be practice runs for an attack on the North.”
“If such restraint is not forthcoming, we can expect a further escalation of tensions and a growing risk of a catastrophic war,” he said.
Informal talks between US and North Korean diplomats have taken place since Trump took office in January, but they have been cut since Pyongyang tested a powerful thermonuclear warhead in early September.
Tillerson has previously seemed at odds with Trump over talks with Pyongyang: Earlier this year, shortly after he said the US was attempting to find a way to resolve tensions between the two nations, Trump tweeted that his top diplomat should “save his energy” as “we’ll do what has to be done!”
“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man ... Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” the president tweeted.
On Tuesday, Tillerson made it clear that full North Korean nuclear disarmament would be the ultimate goal of substantive negotiations.
He said that containment was not an option, as an impoverished North Korea would seek to earn money by selling its nuclear weapons on the black market.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of