US ready for talks with North Korea 'without preconditions', Tillerson says

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

Rex Tillerson has said that the US is ready to begin exploratory talks with North Korea “without preconditions”, but only after a “period of quiet” without new nuclear or missile tests.

The secretary of state’s remarks appeared to mark a shift in state department policy, which had previously required Pyongyang to show it was “serious” about giving up its nuclear arsenal before contacts could start. And the language was a long way from repeated comments by Donald Trump that such contacts are a “waste of time”.

Tillerson also revealed that the US had been talking to China about what each country would do in the event of a conflict or regime collapse in North Korea, saying that the Trump administration had given Beijing assurances that US troops would pull back to the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea, and that the only US concern would be to secure the regime’s nuclear weapons.
...
Speaking at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, Tillerson made it explicit that the message to Pyongyang had changed and that the North Korean regime did not have to commit to full disarmament before direct diplomacy could take off.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/12/us-ready-for-talks-with-north-korea-without-preconditions-tillerson-says

[sandensea]

1. If only anyone could actually believe him.

Even Lil' Kim isn't that stupid.

[doc03]

2. Didn't the Republicans trash Obama for saying he would talk to Iran without

preconditions?

[canetoad]

3. Is Tillerson going rogue?

Maybe even the ex-CEO of Exxon has had enough of the orange baboon.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Without preconditions. Hmmm.

He keeps using that word but I don't think it means what he thinks it means.

Rex, here's a hint...
when you say 'but', it's often followed by some kind of 'condition'

[onecent]

5. Drumpf is an OAF......Can't he let N Korea alone......HE WANTS A WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Igel]

6. The N Koreans have often had preconditions for talking to the US.

Cessation of US/S. Korean military exercises, suspension of some sanction or other, etc.

"Talks without preconditions" can state that we have no prior conditions to be met or that we are not willing to acknowledge any preconditions from the other side.

[keithbvadu2]

7. What does Dotard say?

Didn't he claim that diplomacy had failed and was no good?

[left-of-center2012]

8. You/we know Trump will screw that up

[sl8]

9. Tillerson Makes A N. Korea Overture, But It Highlights His Credibility Problem

A slightly different take on the same story.

From https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/12/13/570390508/tillerson-makes-a-n-korea-overture-but-it-highlights-his-credibility-problem

Tillerson Makes A N. Korea Overture, But It Highlights His Credibility Problem

December 13, 2017 6:23 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is ready to talk about talking to North Korea.

"We're ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk. And we're ready to have the first meeting without pre-condition," he said, in remarks at the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

...

Some North Korea security watchers — like Van Jackson — are skeptical.

"I just sort of rolled my eyes," said Jackson, a former Asia specialist for the Defense Department who's now at New Zealand's Victoria University. He says this is just posturing from Tillerson because the U.S. can't effectively say it wants to talk when its goal is complete, verifiable denuclearization by North Korea. For Pyongyang, giving up its nuclear program is a non-starter.

...

More at link.