Official: US not ruling out eventual direct talks with N. Korea
The United States is not ruling out the eventual possibility of direct talks with North Korea, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said on Tuesday, hours after Pyongyang warned nuclear war might break out at any moment.
Talks between the adversaries have long been urged by China in particular, but Washington and its ally Japan have been reluctant to sit down at the table while Pyongyang continues to pursue a goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States, Reuters reported.
“Eventually, we don’t rule out the possibility, of course, of direct talks,” Sullivan said in Tokyo after talks with his Japanese counterpart.
“Our focus is on diplomacy to solve this problem that is presented by the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). We must, however, with our allies, Japan and South Korea and elsewhere, be prepared for the worst, should diplomacy fail,” he said.
Tension has soared following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“The situation on the Korean Peninsula, where the attention of the whole world is focused, has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment,” North Korea’s Deputy UN Ambassador Kim In-ryong told a UN General Assembly committee on Monday.
“As long as one does not take part in the US military actions against the DPRK, we have no intention to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any other country,” according to Kim’s prepared remarks for the discussion on nuclear weapons. Kim did not read that section out loud.
South Korea and the United States began week-long joint navy drills in the waters around the Korean Peninsula on Monday, involving about 40 ships from both militaries, including the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, the South’s Defense Ministry said.
The North’s state media said on Tuesday the allies’ “desperate efforts” to block the advance of the country would only vindicate that it should continue its nuclear program “to the last.”