Tillerson praises North Korea for ‘restraint, ‘ hopes for ‘pathway’ to dialogue
Just weeks after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is offering praise for Kim Jong-un for holding his fire since then, noting that it could be the “beginning” of a pathway to peace talks.
The overture to the outlaw regime came on the same day that the U. S. slapped Chinese and Russian individuals and companies with third-party sanctions for doing business with North Korea.
“I’m pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has certainly demonstrated some level of restraint that we’ve not seen in the past. We hope that this is the beginning of this signal we’ ve been looking for, ” Tillerson said.
The nation’s top diplomat seemed to be trying to encourage North Korea to stay on the path, later noting that “We need to see more on their part.”
In particular, Tillerson seemed to credit the unanimous adoption of a UN Security Council resolution on August 5 that target North Korea’s revenue sources — coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, seafood, and the country’s guest worker program. Since then, they haven’t engaged in “missile launches or provocative acts, ” he said.
“They are ready to restrain their level of tensions, they are ready to restrain their provocative acts, and then perhaps we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the early future having some dialogue, ” he added.
It has only been two and a half weeks since those sanctions passed – and just three and a half weeks since North Korea’s latest missile launch, a second ICBM capable of hitting the continental United States.
In the interim, all signs indicate the secretive country is plowing full steam ahead on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while engaging in a fiery war of words with President Trump.
