« I have not requested a meeting, but we’ll see what happens,” the vice president said.
TOKYO – When Vice President Pence visited the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea last April, he changed his plan at the last minute and ventured outside of the “Freedom House,” where he stared intently over the border into the North. I asked Pence the following day why he had made the move.
“I thought it was important that we went outside,” he told me . “I thought it was important that people on the other side of the DMZ see our resolve in my face.”
Now, 10 months later, Pence may take the opportunity of his visit to the Olympics in Pyeongchang to show the resolve in his face to North Korean officials in person. There are several clues — although no firm confirmation — that a high-level interaction between U. S. and North Korean officials alongside the Olympics is in the works.
U. S. officials traveling with the vice president offered no insight on whether a meeting will take place but didn’t deny some type of interaction is being contemplated. If it does happen, it would be the highest-level U. S.-North Korean “meeting” in many years.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson kicked off the speculation when he made cryptic remarks during a visit to Peru.
“With respect to the vice president’s trip to the Olympics and whether there would be an opportunity for any kind of a meeting with North Korea, I think we’ll just see,” Tillerson said at a news conference in Lima. “We’ll have to see what happens.”
Asked again to clarify, Tillerson repeated almost the exact same phrase: “We’ll see. We’ll see what happens.”
Pence was asked about Tillerson’s remarks during a refueling stop at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska and used almost the exact same language.
“With regard to any interaction with the North Korean delegation, I have not requested a meeting, but we’ll see what happens,” he said.
