US exploring North Korea's willingness to talk

By Yi Whan-woo

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's acknowledgement that Washington is maintaining "direct channels of communication" with Pyongyang has raised expectations for possible tension-easing efforts by the United States and North Korea.

Speaking in Beijing, Tillerson said Saturday (local time) that the U.S. and North Korea are not in a "blackout" situation.

"We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout," Tillerson told reporters during a visit to China. "We have a couple... three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them."

Tillerson's remarks raise hope for a breakthrough in the heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula following verbal sparring between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to analysts, Sunday.

They still remained skeptical whether the channel will help the U.S. and North Korea talk about Pyongyang's denuclearization in a discreet manner.

North Korean officials "have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization," according to U.S. Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

In a text message sent to reporters, Sunday, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun also said Pyongyang "has not shown any interest toward sincere talks" as indicated by Nauert.

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"Both the U.S. and North Korea may want to end the war of words but they may not know how to do so," said Kim Yeol-su, an international politics professor at Sungshin Women's University. "It'll be awkward for their representatives to shake hands with each other and assume everything is back to normal although their leaders have not still reconciled with each other."

Trump has not withdrawn his words after repeatedly ridiculing Kim as "the Rocket Man" on Twitter and threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea during a Sept. 19 U.N. speech.

Kim vowed to take "highest level of hard-line countermeasures," accusing Trump of being "mentally deranged."

"Both Trump and Kim are unlikely to give in, and in such circumstance, it's uncertain what carrots the U.S. can offer North Korea to engage in dialogue," said An Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies.

Other analysts said Japan may complain if the U.S. abruptly shifts its policy of sanctions and pressure on North Korea and offers a reconciliatory gesture.

In a recent op-ed piece published by The New York Times, Abe said more dialogue with North Korea would be a "dead end."

"Abe is capitalizing on the North Korea risk as part of efforts to win in the snap parliamentary election in November. And Abe may not want U.S. policy on North Korea posing a risk to his political career," said Lee Myeon-woo, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.

Some diplomatic sources speculated that Sweden or other neutral countries could mediate between the U.S. and North Korea in choosing an agenda for possible dialogue.

They said a topic to be included could be the so-called "freeze for freeze" agreement, involving both sides' limiting military action, to induce North Korea to discontinue its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Meanwhile, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Seoul is maintaining close coordination on Pyongyang with Washington although the reclusive state has shown no interest in talks.

"Our government has stated that dialogue can be pursued in multiple formats, including North Korea-U.S. and South Korea-North Korea bilateral talks and multilateral ones," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a text message to reporters.

Both South Korea and the U.S. have the principle that "maximum sanctions and pressure" are needed to change the North's course and bring it to the negotiating table, he said.