Word Association (2024)

[rooster59]

U.S. directly communicating with North Korea, seeks dialogue

By Phil Stewart and Ben Blanchard

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) meeting with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (R) at the Great Hall of the People on September 30, 2017 in Beijing, China. REUTERS/Lintao Zhang/Pool

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States said on Saturday it was directly communicating with North Korea, seeking to start a dialogue with Pyongyang as its advancing nuclear and missile programs stoke fears of an armed confrontation.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the disclosure about the communications during a trip to China and said it was important to find a way to reduce tensions with North Korea.

 

"We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told a group of reporters in Beijing.

 

"We ask: 'Would you like to talk?' We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout."

 

He said that communication was happening directly and cited two or three U.S. channels open to Pyongyang.

 

"We can talk to them. We do talk to them," he said, without elaborating about which Americans were involved in those contacts or how frequent they were.

 

The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss.

 

"We haven't even gotten that far yet," he said.

 

Tillerson's remarks followed a day of meetings in Beijing, which has been alarmed by recent exchanges of war-like threats and personal insults between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump.

 

"I think the whole situation's a bit overheated right now," Tillerson said. "I think everyone would like for it to calm down.

 

"Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That'd calm things down a lot."

 

South Korean officials have voiced concerns that North Korea could conduct more provocative acts near the anniversary of the founding of its communist party on Oct. 10, or possibly when China holds its Communist Party Congress on Oct. 18.

 

North Korea is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific.

 

ECONOMIC SQUEEZE

 

U.S. officials including Tillerson say Beijing, after long accounting for some 90 percent of North Korea's foreign trade, appears increasingly willing to cut ties to its neighbor's economy by adopting United Nations sanctions.

 

Tillerson said he believed China's more assertive posture was due to its realization that North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities had advanced too far.

 

"I think they also have a sense that we're beginning to run out of time, and that we really have to change the dynamic," Tillerson said.

 

The goal of the sanctions would be getting North Korea's Kim to view nuclear weapons as a liability, not a strength.

 

Still, the U.S. intelligence community does not believe Kim is likely to give up his weapons program willingly, regardless of sanctions.

 

"(Tillerson's) working against the unified view of our intelligence agencies, which say there's no amount of pressure that can be put on them to stop," Senator Bob Corker told a hearing at the chamber on Thursday.

 

Kim sees nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles as "his ticket to survival," Corker said.

 

Tillerson agreed that Kim's nuclear and missile programs were aimed at ensuring his own security, and renewed assurances that the United States did not seek to topple Kim's government.

 

"Look, our objective is denuclearization (of North Korea). Our objective is not to get rid of you. Our objective is not to collapse your regime," he said.

 

INCREMENTAL STEPS

 

It is unclear how and when any actual negotiations with Pyongyang might be possible.

 

White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said on Monday there were no set preconditions for talks. He added, however, that Pyongyang's capabilities were too far advanced to simply freeze its program in return for concessions.

 

He also dismissed the idea of negotiating with Pyongyang even as it continued to develop its nuclear weapons program.

 

Tillerson in March suggested the United States would only engage North Korea in negotiations once it gave up nuclear weapons.

 

But he acknowledged on Saturday that denuclearization would be an "incremental process."

 

"You'd be foolish to think you’re going to sit down and say: Okay, done. Nuclear weapons, gone. This is going to be a process of engagement with North Korea," he said.

 

Trump, who is due to visit China in November, has called for it to do more regarding North Korea and has promised to take steps to rebalance a trade relationship that his administration says puts U.S. businesses at a disadvantage.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping did not mention North Korea in his opening remarks while meeting Tillerson on Saturday. He instead offered warm words about Trump, saying he expected the U.S. president's visit to be "wonderful."

 

"The two of us have also maintained a good working relationship and personal friendship," Xi said in comments in front of reporters.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-01

[quadperfect]

Yak yak yak and north korea stops firing missiles for a while. The usa feels better, then north korea after talking for a year has developed all the quantity of nukes it needs to kill all of japan,guam,and maybe hawaii. Not to mention south korea.

Real smart talking to this crazy murderer.

 

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss.

 

"We haven't even gotten that far yet," he said.

NK has no desire to negotiate.  Sadly.

[55Jay]

Tillerson sounds like an adult in a room of adults, discussing an intervention for an unruly teenager.   Good that President Trump seems to have stuck a sock in his mouth for now. 

Edited October 1, 2017 by 55Jay

[retarius]

If true this is excellent news, provided there are not unacceptable preconditions attached by the US.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, retarius said:

If true this is excellent news, provided there are not unacceptable preconditions attached by the US.

Most unacceptable preconditions have been set the NK over the years.  Easy to research that.

[farq]

The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss.

They've already told the idiots in the US what they want to discuss!! They want the threats and abuse to stop!

 

"We haven't even gotten that far yet," he said.

The US just doesn't want to acknowledge the security concerns that North Korea have about the continual threats from the "war games" and other deliberate provocations from the US!

 

Tillerson's remarks followed a day of meetings in Beijing, which has been alarmed by recent exchanges of war-like threats and personal insults between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump.

That fool Trump and his minions have been the ones delivering the insults and threats!

 

"I think the whole situation's a bit overheated right now," Tillerson said. "I think everyone would like for it to calm down.

Bloody brilliant observation from Tillerson! Only copying the comments from Russia/China last week. Couldn't he think of anything original to say?!

 

"Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That'd calm things down a lot."

What would have "calmed things down a lot" would have been the US restraining themselves from continually provoking an altercation with North Korea for decades and then allowing O'Bummer and now this village idiot Trump to escalate the problem out of recognition! North Korea is entitled to protect itself from threats from belligerent war mongers and, if it so desires, is wholly entitled to have a nuclear program without waiting for permission from the US! Why doesn't  the US do something about sanctions and threats of nuclear war against Israel and their nuclear weapons program and show that they are fair dinkum about non nuclear proliferation?!

[farq]

5 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Most unacceptable preconditions have been set the NK over the years.  Easy to research that.

 

Incorrect!! The unacceptable preconditions have always been a US gambit. Not just in this case but in all the other fiascos and regime changes that the US has tried to foist upon other countries for decades! Latest of these is the preconditions that were imposed on Iran and their nuclear program, that was agreed to by Iran and verified by the UN and ICAC! Now Trump wants to add to the sanctions and embargos just to prove that he is an <deleted>. You had better do a bit better research and you will discover that it is the US and their unacceptable preconditions. Not North Korea, as you claim.

 

[Trouble]

7 hours ago, farq said:

The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss.

They've already told the idiots in the US what they want to discuss!! They want the threats and abuse to stop!

 

"We haven't even gotten that far yet," he said.

The US just doesn't want to acknowledge the security concerns that North Korea have about the continual threats from the "war games" and other deliberate provocations from the US!

 

Tillerson's remarks followed a day of meetings in Beijing, which has been alarmed by recent exchanges of war-like threats and personal insults between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump.

That fool Trump and his minions have been the ones delivering the insults and threats!

 

"I think the whole situation's a bit overheated right now," Tillerson said. "I think everyone would like for it to calm down.

Bloody brilliant observation from Tillerson! Only copying the comments from Russia/China last week. Couldn't he think of anything original to say?!

 

"Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That'd calm things down a lot."

What would have "calmed things down a lot" would have been the US restraining themselves from continually provoking an altercation with North Korea for decades and then allowing O'Bummer and now this village idiot Trump to escalate the problem out of recognition! North Korea is entitled to protect itself from threats from belligerent war mongers and, if it so desires, is wholly entitled to have a nuclear program without waiting for permission from the US! Why doesn't  the US do something about sanctions and threats of nuclear war against Israel and their nuclear weapons program and show that they are fair dinkum about non nuclear proliferation?!

Sorry to disagree but the DPRK has had a 1.2 million man military, a great deal of it posted at the DMZ, ready to engage in battle at any time and has repeatedly provoked South Korea. Please recall DPRK firing on a South Korean naval vessel a few years back, killing a significant number of sailors on the vessel. South Korea has approximately 650,000 men plus about 25,000 US troops. The military games that take place each year are not a threat to the DPRK and never has been, however it is used by the DPRK as propaganda for internal consumption. Since the truce neither South Korea nor the USA have threatened the North. The South has at various times tried to engage the North in trade and cooperative manufacturing and it's been the KPRK that has continually caused this to fail. The North Korean dictatorship uses an external threat to whip up sentiment against the outside world and keeps its people in fear of the outside as a way to prop up its regime.  

 

Kim either falsely believes that the outside world wants to remove him or maybe it just his own paranoia. As desirable as that might be, neither the South Korean government nor the USA has the will or desire to do that, and have stated such. Whether Kim gets his missiles and nukes to work or not will not help him.  His country will be isolated by the international community and that seems to be happening even with China, the DPRK's largest trade partner.  Unfortunately, it is the poor people of the DPRK that will suffer as what little the DPRK has to export is cut off.  

 

This nuke problem has been festering for 24 years. Nothing of consequence was done by the last three administrations starting with Clinton. In this case Trump is left holding the bag and Kim now has a nuke and a missile.  Forget the rhetoric for a moment as it means little and no one is going to start firing nukes at each other over rhetoric. Trump maybe a bull in a china shop when it comes to the bad mouthing of Kim but at least his administration is also addressing the issue and seemingly putting the squeeze on the Chinese to step up their pressure on the DPRK as well. A look at the reality is that the world has little other option than to use sanctions to squeeze the DPRK until it gives up.  It's kind of foolish to blame Trump for the fix we are in with the DPR as it was the inaction of the last 24 years that put us where we are today. Maybe the US and South Korea should suggest a peace agreement and go past the truce that was implemented as see what Kim's problem might be with that.  Just a thought.  

[craigt3365]

10 hours ago, farq said:

 

Incorrect!! The unacceptable preconditions have always been a US gambit. Not just in this case but in all the other fiascos and regime changes that the US has tried to foist upon other countries for decades! Latest of these is the preconditions that were imposed on Iran and their nuclear program, that was agreed to by Iran and verified by the UN and ICAC! Now Trump wants to add to the sanctions and embargos just to prove that he is an <deleted>. You had better do a bit better research and you will discover that it is the US and their unacceptable preconditions. Not North Korea, as you claim.

 

I guess you're not aware the previous negotiations were called the 6 party talks.  Headed by China and held in Beijing.  And they fell apart.  So you're blaming the US for all this.  Good gosh.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-party_talks
 

Quote

 

These talks were a result of North Korea withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2003.

 

Responding angrily to the United Nations Security Council's Presidential Statement^[5] issued on April 13, 2009 that condemned the North Korean failed satellite launch, the DPRK declared on April 14, 2009 that it would pull out of Six Party Talks and that it would resume its nuclear enrichment program in order to boost its nuclear deterrent.^[6] North Korea has also expelled all nuclear inspectors from the country.

 

 

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1980008/north-korea-dismisses-restarting-stalled-six-party

Quote

 

North Korea has ruled out resuming the stalled six-party international talks on its nuclear weapons programme, despite the repeated urgings of its closest ally China.

 

A North Korean official attending a security forum in Beijing said on Thursday that restarting the negotiations was not an option.

 

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by craigt3365

[craigt3365]

10 hours ago, farq said:

The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss.

They've already told the idiots in the US what they want to discuss!! They want the threats and abuse to stop!

 

"We haven't even gotten that far yet," he said.

The US just doesn't want to acknowledge the security concerns that North Korea have about the continual threats from the "war games" and other deliberate provocations from the US!

 

Tillerson's remarks followed a day of meetings in Beijing, which has been alarmed by recent exchanges of war-like threats and personal insults between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump.

That fool Trump and his minions have been the ones delivering the insults and threats!

 

"I think the whole situation's a bit overheated right now," Tillerson said. "I think everyone would like for it to calm down.

Bloody brilliant observation from Tillerson! Only copying the comments from Russia/China last week. Couldn't he think of anything original to say?!

 

"Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That'd calm things down a lot."

What would have "calmed things down a lot" would have been the US restraining themselves from continually provoking an altercation with North Korea for decades and then allowing O'Bummer and now this village idiot Trump to escalate the problem out of recognition! North Korea is entitled to protect itself from threats from belligerent war mongers and, if it so desires, is wholly entitled to have a nuclear program without waiting for permission from the US! Why doesn't  the US do something about sanctions and threats of nuclear war against Israel and their nuclear weapons program and show that they are fair dinkum about non nuclear proliferation?!

What a rant. You don't seem to have a clue what's going on there.  Just bashing the US.  As usual.

[midas]

32 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

What a rant. You don't seem to have a clue what's going on there.  Just bashing the US.  As usual.

 

" They want the threats and abuse to stop "
 

erm but that should work both ways?

[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, midas said:

 

" They want the threats and abuse to stop "
 

erm but that should work both ways?

Absolutely.  What's caused the problems in the past was NK firing off another rocket.  Then the negotiations end.

 

Trump's a nut and he is for sure making things worse.  Even with Trump, this BS has been going on for decades.  NK could careless about the UN, the US, China, etc.  And it's people....

[midas]

9 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Absolutely.  What's caused the problems in the past was NK firing off another rocket.  Then the negotiations end.

 

Trump's a nut and he is for sure making things worse.  Even with Trump, this BS has been going on for decades.  NK could careless about the UN, the US, China, etc.  And it's people....

 

But there is also no need for the provocative annual wargame with South Korea.  

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, midas said:

 

But there is also no need for the provocative annual wargame with South Korea.  

And there's no need for NK to fire rockets into SK killing innocent people.  Or sinking one of their subs.  Or making illegal border incursions into the South.  Tit for tat.  Right?

[4MyEgo]

Has anybody heard when the US intends on reducing its 7,000 nucs Vs NK's 8 or so ?

[craigt3365]

13 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Has anybody heard when the US intends on reducing its 7,000 nucs Vs NK's 8 or so ?

Yes.  As soon as NK gets rid of theirs. LOL

[Morch]

7 hours ago, midas said:

 

But there is also no need for the provocative annual wargame with South Korea.  

 

When North Korea holds its own war games, is that considered "provocative" as well? 

Are any casualties directly attributed to the SK/USA war games, as opposed to North Korea's numerous actual attacks over the years?

 

The chorus is always the same - North Korea (and never ever referencing Kim, of course) is entitled to a deterrent (or even multiple deterrents), whereas South Korea's deterrents are considered provocative and their removal is necessary in the interest of keeping the peace.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Morch

[midas]

7 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

When North Korea holds its own war games, is that considered "provocative" as well? 

Are any casualties directly attributed to the SK/USA war games, as opposed to North Korea's numerous actual attacks over the years?

 

The chorus is always the same - North Korea (and never ever referencing Kim, of course) is entitled to a deterrent (or even multiple deterrents), whereas South Korea's deterrents are considered provocative and their removal is necessary in the interest of keeping the peace.

 

It's not an entitlement ...............it's a necessity for North Korea to have as many strong deterrents as necessary to protect themselves against a country that has  invaded 22 other countries in the past 20 years

[craigt3365]

13 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Has anybody heard when the US intends on reducing its 7,000 nucs Vs NK's 8 or so ?

Yes.  As soon as NK gets rid of theirs. LOL

[craigt3365]

51 minutes ago, midas said:

 

It's not an entitlement ...............it's a necessity for North Korea to have as many strong deterrents as necessary to protect themselves against a country that has  invaded 22 other countries in the past 20 years

It's not an entitlement.....it's a necessity for South Korea to have as many strong deterrents as necessary to protect themselves against a country that previously invaded them.  And continues to do so to this day.

[Morch]

1 hour ago, midas said:

 

It's not an entitlement ...............it's a necessity for North Korea to have as many strong deterrents as necessary to protect themselves against a country that has  invaded 22 other countries in the past 20 years

 

Substitute North Korea with Kim. Doubt North Korea, as in the North Korean people's views, were consulted. As far as invasions go, it was North Korea vs. South Korea, but thanks for making the point.

[farq]

16 hours ago, Trouble said:

Sorry to disagree but the DPRK has had a 1.2 million man military, a great deal of it posted at the DMZ, ready to engage in battle at any time and has repeatedly provoked South Korea. Please recall DPRK firing on a South Korean naval vessel a few years back, killing a significant number of sailors on the vessel. South Korea has approximately 650,000 men plus about 25,000 US troops. The military games that take place each year are not a threat to the DPRK and never has been, however it is used by the DPRK as propaganda for internal consumption. Since the truce neither South Korea nor the USA have threatened the North. The South has at various times tried to engage the North in trade and cooperative manufacturing and it's been the KPRK that has continually caused this to fail. The North Korean dictatorship uses an external threat to whip up sentiment against the outside world and keeps its people in fear of the outside as a way to prop up its regime.  

 

Kim either falsely believes that the outside world wants to remove him or maybe it just his own paranoia. As desirable as that might be, neither the South Korean government nor the USA has the will or desire to do that, and have stated such. Whether Kim gets his missiles and nukes to work or not will not help him.  His country will be isolated by the international community and that seems to be happening even with China, the DPRK's largest trade partner.  Unfortunately, it is the poor people of the DPRK that will suffer as what little the DPRK has to export is cut off.  

 

This nuke problem has been festering for 24 years. Nothing of consequence was done by the last three administrations starting with Clinton. In this case Trump is left holding the bag and Kim now has a nuke and a missile.  Forget the rhetoric for a moment as it means little and no one is going to start firing nukes at each other over rhetoric. Trump maybe a bull in a china shop when it comes to the bad mouthing of Kim but at least his administration is also addressing the issue and seemingly putting the squeeze on the Chinese to step up their pressure on the DPRK as well. A look at the reality is that the world has little other option than to use sanctions to squeeze the DPRK until it gives up.  It's kind of foolish to blame Trump for the fix we are in with the DPR as it was the inaction of the last 24 years that put us where we are today. Maybe the US and South Korea should suggest a peace agreement and go past the truce that was implemented as see what Kim's problem might be with that.  Just a thought.  

 

You have a very one sided view of the situation. The US has been baiting DPRK for years with their bullshit "exercises" and continual sabre rattling, but DPRK is entitled to conduct missile tests just the same as the US has done for years. At least DPRK hasn't poisoned the Pacific with its totally unnecessary A and H bomb tests that necessitated the inhabitants being removed from their islands and people in neighbouring areas being affected by the radioactive fallout! The US needs to stay out of peoples lives in other countries and clean up their act at home first! The only thing that the psychopath Trump has done is opened his big, ignorant, mouth and made a YUGE fool of himself!!

[Scott]

Troll post reported and removed.  

 

[craigt3365]

9 hours ago, farq said:

 

You have a very one sided view of the situation. The US has been baiting DPRK for years with their bullshit "exercises" and continual sabre rattling, but DPRK is entitled to conduct missile tests just the same as the US has done for years. At least DPRK hasn't poisoned the Pacific with its totally unnecessary A and H bomb tests that necessitated the inhabitants being removed from their islands and people in neighbouring areas being affected by the radioactive fallout! The US needs to stay out of peoples lives in other countries and clean up their act at home first! The only thing that the psychopath Trump has done is opened his big, ignorant, mouth and made a YUGE fool of himself!!

You have a very one sided view of the situation.  North Korea has been attacking and invading the south for years.  Killing innocent civilians along the way.  North Korea needs to stay out of the lives of people in the south and spend this money supporting their own people.  Who are starving and being treated like slaves.

 

Amazing you support these guys.

[4MyEgo]

17 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Yes.  As soon as NK gets rid of theirs. LOL

Just did the calculations on that, and it works out that its not in my life time.