US Sec of State Tillerson to N. Korea: US ready to talk without pre-conditions - Reuters

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a speech to Washington’s Atlantic Council think tank late-Tuesday, the US is ready to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions, Reuters reports.

Tillerson said, “Let’s just meet.”

While reiterating Washington’s position that it cannot accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, Tillerson said the United States was “ready to talk anytime they’re ready to talk.”

But he insisted there would have to be a “period of quiet” without nuclear and missile tests to have productive discussions.

“We can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether it’s going to be a square table or a roundtable,” Tillerson said.

“Then we can begin to lay out a map, a road map, of what we might be willing to work towards,” Tillerson said.