US talking with North Korea on nuclear programme

The US is communicating with North Korea about its nuclear programme and testing Pyongyang’s appetite for negotiations, secretary of state Rex Tillerson said in the first public acknowledgment by a senior administration official of direct contact on the matter. A state department spokeswoman later tamped down prospects for a breakthrough in the tense relations between Washington and Pyongyang.

Tillerson, speaking to reporters on Saturday after meeting Chinese officials in Beijing, insisted that the US would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.

His remarks offered the clearest glimpse so far into US strategy, and suggested a willingness to get to the negotiating table with Kim Jongun’s regime – even after President Donald Trump tweeted in August that “talking is not the answer!” “We are probing, so stay tuned,” Tillerson said.

“We can talk to them, we do talk to them directly, through our own channels,” adding that the US has “a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang.” The US doesn’t have an embassy in North Korea and often relays messages to the regime through the embassy of Sweden. Joseph Yun, Tillerson’s special representative for North Korea policy, has communicated privately with North Korea, often through Pyongyang’s mission to the United Nations in New York, but the exchanges were generally believed to be limited to the issue of detained Americans.

UN SANCTIONS
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, and has launched more than a dozen missiles this year as Kim seeks the capability to hit the continental US with an atomic weapon. The UN has imposed stringent sanctions on North Korea for its weapons tests, and Trump has said all options – including military ones – are on the table.