US leaning toward talks with N. Korea

'I'm listening to Pyongyang,' Tillerson says

By Lee Min-hyung

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

The United States is showing growing signs of wanting to hold dialogue with North Korea, softening its “maximum pressure” stance against the regime amid the warming climate of reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula.

The glimmer of hope for possible Washington-Pyongyang talks comes on the back of the ongoing thaw in inter-Korean relations, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently sending an invitation for a summit to President Moon Jae-in.

The inter-Korean relationship reached its peak this month when North Korea sent a large sports delegation to the South to join the ongoing PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Against the backdrop of the peaceful mood on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. is also taking a less aggressive posture in its North Korean policy. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Saturday that the country is “keeping its channels open” for talks with the regime.

“I am listening for Pyongyang to tell me that the regime is ready to talk,” he said in a media interview.

The remark is part of the U.S.’s efforts to break the long deadlock in its relations with North Korea. This is a rare move, as U.S. President Donald Trump, since taking office last year, has continued to step up his aggressive rhetoric against the regime.

“My job as chief diplomat is to ensure that the North Koreans know the U.S. keeps its channels open,” Tillerson was quoted as saying.

But he stressed that the country would continue to maintain pressure on the North.

“I am not sending a lot of messages back because there is nothing to say to them at this point,” he said. “We are not using a carrot to convince them to talk. We are using large sticks. And that is what they need to understand.”

Last week, the North Korean leader sent President Moon an invitation to Pyongyang for a summit “at the earliest possible date.” This has put Moon in a growing dilemma, as Seoul and Washington plan to resume joint military exercises right after the closing of the PyeongChang Paralympics in March.

Given a potentially-ensuing strong backlash from the North, President Moon has yet to confirm whether to accept the proposal.

On Sunday, he said a “bond of sympathy” is developing on the peninsula over the need for Washington-Pyongyang talks.

Moon told reporters on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics that the government hopes the ongoing inter-Korean talks will pave the way for a U.S.-North Korea dialogue in the near future.

However, he declined to comment further, only noting that he expects a lot from the possible inter-Korean summit, but it was too early to discuss the details.

The North, for its part, is also making efforts to improve icy relations with the U.S.

In an interview with local media, Saturday, Hans Modrow, a former premier of East Germany, said he received a letter from Ri Su-yong, vice chairman of the regime’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, last year that asked him to make efforts to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula and improve bilateral relations between Washington and Pyongyang.

Modrow said the North sought to win sympathy in the letter that stated its nuclear programs were not aimed at raising military tension, but balancing power on the peninsula against the U.S.