South Korea said that North Korea is "very willing" to hold talks with the US, quoting North Korea's delegation to the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
The White House said that it will see whether North Korea’s interest in holding talks with the US represents the first step along the path to denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea said that North Korea is "very willing" to hold talks with the US, quoting North Korea's delegation to the Winter Olympics closing ceremony.
“The maximum pressure campaign must continue until North Korea denuclearizes. As President Trump has said, there is a brighter path available for North Korea if it chooses denuclearization,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
“We will see if Pyongyang’s message today, that it is willing to hold talks, represents the first steps along the path to denuclearization,” Sanders said.
In the meantime, the United States and the world must continue to make clear that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are a dead end, she asserted. Later this week, the Trump Administration had announced a series of tough sanctions against North Korea. The statement from Pyongyang that it is willing to hold talks with the US came after that.
“The United States, our Olympic Host the Republic of Korea, and the international community broadly agree that denuclearisation must be the result of any dialogue with North Korea,” Sanders said.
North Korea last year increased the pace of its missile programme. Since February, Pyongyang has fired off 23 missiles. On November 29, the North Korean leader said that his country had achieved full nuclear statehood after what he said was the successful test of a new missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States.
