Tillerson’s comments, made yesterday, were interpreted by some experts as a softening of the US position.
The US State Department said today its policy on North Korea “has not changed,” following remarks by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Washington is ready to talk without prior conditions.
Tillerson’s comments, made yesterday, were interpreted by some experts as a softening of the US position.
The Secretary of State stated the need for a “period of calm” in Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic tests before negotiations could begin.
However, he also said talks could begin “without preconditions,” including without confirmation that Kim Jong- Un’s regime will abandon its nuclear program.
Tillerson had said in August that “a condition of those talks is there is no future where North Korea holds nuclear weapons.”
“The secretary was not creating a new policy, our policy remains exactly the same as it was,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said today.
“We remain open to dialogue when North Korea is willing to conduct a credible dialogue on the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” she said, adding “clearly the time is not right now” and that the State Department is “on the same page” as the White House on the issue.
