US Vice President Pence says US now open to talks with DPRK

The United States could be willing to engage in talks with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) without preconditions, Vice President Mike Pence has suggested.

Speaking to the Washington Post as he returned to the US after a frosty visit to the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Pence said he had agreed with Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in on terms for engagement with the DPRK.

The vice president said the US is open to a policy of “maximum pressure and engagement at the same time.”

The Trump administration had previously said it would not talk with the DPRK until Pyongyang took steps towards denuclearization.

What’s the new strategy?

The Post article suggests the strategy would see the US continue with its hardline approach – in Japan last week, Pence said Washington was preparing the “toughest and most aggressive” sanctions ever against Pyongyang – while opening the door to direct talks with the DPRK.

“The point is, no pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearization,” Pence said. “So the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. But if you want to talk, we’ll talk.”

The change in US strategy is reported to have been agreed after face-to-face talks between Pence and Moon at the Winter Olympics in recent days.

Pence says US now open to talks with DPRK

POLITICS By John Goodrich

2018-02-12 11:15 GMT+8 Updated 2018-02-12 11:53 GMT+8

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The United States could be willing to engage in talks with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) without preconditions, Vice President Mike Pence has suggested.

Speaking to the Washington Post as he returned to the US after a frosty visit to the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Pence said he had agreed with Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in on terms for engagement with the DPRK.

Read more: Mixed reactions to warming ties between Seoul and Pyongyang

The vice president said the US is open to a policy of “maximum pressure and engagement at the same time.”

The Trump administration had previously said it would not talk with the DPRK until Pyongyang took steps towards denuclearization.

What’s the new strategy?

The Post article suggests the strategy would see the US continue with its hardline approach – in Japan last week, Pence said Washington was preparing the “toughest and most aggressive” sanctions ever against Pyongyang – while opening the door to direct talks with the DPRK.

ROK President Moon Jae-in talks to US Vice President Mike Pence at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, ROK, February 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

“The point is, no pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearization,” Pence said. “So the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. But if you want to talk, we’ll talk.”

Read more: Pence vows 'most aggressive ever' sanctions on DPRK

The change in US strategy is reported to have been agreed after face-to-face talks between Pence and Moon at the Winter Olympics in recent days.

The ROK president is said to have assured Pence that no concessions would be offered to the DPRK simply for talking, only for real steps towards denuclearization.

US and ROK aligned?

The shift appears to put Washington and Seoul on the same path, after Moon and Pence’s sharply contrasting approaches to the DPRK delegation in PyeongChang.

As Moon greeted Kim Yo Jong, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister, and Kim Yong Nam, the country’s ceremonial head of state, at the opening ceremony of the Games, Pence was pictured looking stony-faced as he sat meters away.

US Vice President Mike Pence remains seated as the unified Korean team arrive at the opening ceremomy of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games on February 9, 2018.

The vice president then remained seated during a standing ovation for the Korean team marching together, and didn't acknowledge the DPRK delegation at a dinner organized by Moon.

Moon joined Kim Yo Jong and Kim Yong Nam at the debut outing of the unified Korean women’s ice hockey team and sat with them during a performance by a DPRK orchestra

in Seoul on Sunday.

ROK President Moon Jae-in talks with Kim Yo Jong, the sister of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, while watching a performance by the DPRK's Samjiyon Orchestra in Seoul, ROK, February 11, 2018.

Kim Yo Jong delivered a letter from Kim Jong Un inviting Moon to a summit in Pyongyang and asked him to play a “leading role” in negotiating peace on the Korean Peninsula.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis insisted on Sunday the warming inter-Korea ties had not driven a wedge between Washington and Seoul.

"There's no wedge there, the military staffs are integrated,” Mattis told CNN. “If you move up to the political level, Admiral Song, minister of defense Song, flew into Hawaii when I was out in the Pacific, that's so he and I could sit down face to face and consult."

The tough new sanctions on the DPRK promised by Pence will likely have a bearing on how the new strategy plays out. After the détente during the Winter Olympics, analysts warn new US measures could provoke a response from Pyongyang.

(CGTN)