Rex Tillerson: ‘We’re a long ways from negotiations’ with North Korea

“We’re a long ways from negotiations,” Tillerson told reporters Thursday.

South Korean officials surprised international diplomats by announcing North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had declared a willingness to engage in talks about dismantling his nuclear weapons program. It would a landmark shift in North Korean policy if Kim is sincere, but U.S. officials doubt he made the offer in good faith.

Tillerson has led an international sanctions campaign designed to pressure the Kim regime to come to the negotiating table.

Tillerson called for “talks about talks” rather than a more ambitious plan.

“I don’t know yet, until we are able to meet ourselves face to face with representatives of North Korea, whether the conditions are right to even begin thinking about negotiations,” he said.

U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials worry North Korea made the offer in order to delay any possible confrontation with the United States until after the regime has developed the ability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States. CIA Director Mike Pompeo has hinted they are just months away from having that capability, making this a critical time for diplomats who want to negotiate without getting duped.

“[T]hat happened to us once before,” Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.

Risch hopes the intelligence community will be able to warn Tillerson’s team if North Korea is using the talks to deflect attention from ongoing nuclear weapons or ballistic missile research.

“I can’t really go into the ways and means, but, we’re in a substantially better position now than we were then,” he said. “The world has changed dramatically, and [there have been] technological advances — and I really can’t talk about that.”

Tillerson also took a wary tone. “We just need to be very clear-eyed and realistic about it,” he said.