{"id":54433,"date":"2017-12-13T06:01:54","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T06:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=54433"},"modified":"2017-12-13T06:01:54","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T06:01:54","slug":"tillerson-says-u-s-ready-to-talk-to-north-korea-japan-wants-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/tillerson-says-u-s-ready-to-talk-to-north-korea-japan-wants-pressure.html","title":{"rendered":"Tillerson says U.S. ready to talk to North Korea, Japan wants pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tillerson says U.S. ready to talk to North Korea, Japan wants pressure<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that Pyongyang must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tillerson\u2019s new diplomatic overture comes nearly two weeks after North Korea said it had successfully tested a breakthrough intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that put the entire United States mainland within range of its nuclear weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s just meet,\u201d Tillerson said in a speech to Washington\u2019s Atlantic Council think tank on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The White House later issued an ambiguous statement that left unclear whether President Donald Trump – who has said Tillerson was wasting his time pursuing dialogue with North Korea – had given his approval for the speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe president\u2019s views on North Korea have not changed,\u201d the White House said. \u201cNorth Korea is acting in an unsafe way … North Korea\u2019s actions are not good for anyone and certainly not good for North Korea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahead of Tillerson\u2019s speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to develop more nuclear weapons while personally decorating scientists and officials who contributed to the development of Pyongyang\u2019s most advanced ICBM, according to North Korean state media on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim said on Tuesday the scientists and workers would continue manufacturing \u201cmore latest weapons and equipment\u201d to \u201cbolster up the nuclear force in quality and quantity\u201d, the KCNA news agency reported.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPERIOD OF QUIET\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While reiterating Washington\u2019s long-standing position that it cannot tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea, Tillerson said the United States was \u201cready to talk any time they\u2019re ready to talk\u201d, but there would first have to be a \u201cperiod of quiet\u201d without nuclear and missile tests.<\/span><\/p>\n

United Nations political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman, who visited Pyongyang last week, said senior North Korean officials did not offer any type of commitment to talks, but he believes he left \u201cthe door ajar\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTime will tell what was the impact of our discussions, but I think we have left the door ajar and I fervently hope that the door to a negotiated solution will now be opened wide,\u201d Feltman told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not everyone is ready for talks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Japan has advocated a strategy of pressuring North Korea through sanctions to give up its nuclear weapons. Tokyo and Washington are in \u201c100 percent\u201d agreement about that stance, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday when asked about Tillerson\u2019s comments.<\/span><\/p>\n

A former Japanese diplomat said that, while a diplomatic solution was the \u201conly acceptable solution\u201d, now was not the time for talks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to see the effects of sanctions on life in North Korea,\u201d the former diplomat, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI heard that they are having a serious impact on everyday life. Let\u2019s wait and see. If we were to hint anything for dialogue, we\u2019d be losing clout,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea continued with its military exercises with the United States to check military readiness, exercises the North describes as preparation for war. The South\u2019s army said separately on Wednesday it conducted a successful air-to-air missile firing drill from Apache helicopters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tillerson also disclosed the United States had been talking to China about how to secure North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons in the event of a collapse of the government in Pyongyang. He said Beijing had been given assurances that if U.S. forces had to cross into North Korea they would pull back across the border into the South.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he made clear that the United States wants to resolve the North Korea standoff through peaceful diplomacy and, in terms far more tempered than Trump\u2019s recent threats against Pyongyang, offered to hold exploratory talks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether it\u2019s going to be a square table or a round table,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we can begin to lay out a map, a road map, of what we might be willing to work towards.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tillerson – whose influence has appeared to wane within the administration – said Trump \u201chas encouraged our diplomatic efforts\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump said on Twitter in October that Tillerson was \u201cwasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man\u201d, using his derisive nickname for Kim.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea, for its part, has made clear that it has little interest in negotiations with the United States until it has developed the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile, something most experts say it has still not proved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tillerson also said the United States was working to tighten enforcement of international sanctions against North Korea, especially further measures that China can apply, and that Washington had a full menu of military options if such a response was needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the non-partisan Arms Control Association, said Tillerson\u2019s proposal was overdue but that \u201cin order to get to such talks going, the U.S. side as well as North Korea must demonstrate more restraint\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-northkorea-missiles-tillerson\/tillerson-says-u-s-ready-to-talk-to-north-korea-japan-wants-pressure-idUSKBN1E62UI<\/span><\/p>\n

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