« We have lines of communications to Pyongyang, » said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Saturday from Beijing as he called for a cooling of an « overheated » situation.
As the United States grapples with how to contend with North Korea’s nuclear weapons program that has been fueling a worsening war of words, the rhetoric took a decisively cooler tone on Saturday when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged for the first time that the administration is in direct contact with Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear tests, reports The New York Times.
« We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them, » Tillerson told reporters Saturday in Beijing, according to the pool report.
But Tillerson made clear that those talks are not necessarily happening at Pyonyang’s highest levels. When asked how he would open a dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Tillerson said, « We are probing. So stay tuned. »
The Secretary of State was in Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders to discuss denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula as well as trade and investment.
Tillerson emphasized that the talks with Pyongyang are not being mediated by China, « Directly. Our own channels, » he said.
He did not say whether North Korea is responding to the overtures.
« The whole situation is a bit overheated right now, » Tillerson said. « I think everyone would like for it to calm down. I think if North Korea would stop firing all the missiles, that would calm down things a lot.
