US official not ruling out N.Korea talks North Korea has again warned countries like Australia against siding with the US, in part of a statement not read out by the regime's representative at the UN.
ReutersOctober 17, 20176:14am
The
US is not ruling out the eventual possibility of direct talks with
North Korea, Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan says, 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 while it continues to pursue a goal of developing
a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US.
"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. We must, however, with our allies, Japan and South Korea and elsewhere, be prepared for the worst should diplomacy fail," he said.
Tensions have soared following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Leaflets apparently from North Korea calling Trump a "mad dog" and depicting gruesome images of him have turned up across central Seoul in recent days, adding an unusually personal element to North Korean propaganda.
"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 (North Korea), 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.
"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. We must, however, with our allies, Japan and South Korea and elsewhere, be prepared for the worst should diplomacy fail," he said.
Tensions have soared following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Leaflets apparently from North Korea calling Trump a "mad dog" and depicting gruesome images of him have turned up across central Seoul in recent days, adding an unusually personal element to North Korean propaganda.
"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 (North Korea), 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.
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