- Title: U.S. would like dialogue with North Korea at some point -Tillerson
- Date: 1st August 2017
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (AUGUST 1, 2017) (STATE TV) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE REX TILLERSON ENTERING BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, REX TILLERSON, SAYING: "We initiated a sustained and continued, intensified campaign to on what I like to call 'peaceful pressure,' because the options available to us, I think as all of you well understand, are limited. And particularly if we think we are operating under a short period of time. So we felt the appropriate thing to do first was to seek peaceful pressure on the regime in North Korea to have them a willingness to sit and talk with us and others, but with an understanding that a condition of those talks is: there is no future where North Korea holds nuclear weapons or the ability to deliver those nuclear weapons to anyone in the region, much less to the homeland." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, REX TILLERSON, SAYING: "We've been very clear with the Chinese. We certainly don't blame the Chinese for the situation in North Korea. Only the North Koreans are to blame for this situation. But we do believe China has a special and unique relationship because of the significant economic activity to influence the North Korean regime in ways that no one else can." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, REX TILLERSON, SAYING: "We have reaffirmed our position towards North Korea that what we are doing, we do not seek a regime change. We do not seek the collapse of the regime. We do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula. We do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel. And we're trying to convey to the North Koreans: we are not your enemy. We are not your threat, but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us, and we have to respond. And we hope that at some point they will begin to understand that, and that we would like to sit and have a dialogue with them about the future that will give them the security they seek and the future economic prosperity for North Korea, but that will then promote economic prosperity throughout Northeast Asia." VIDEO PAD
- Embargoed: 15th August 2017 19:50
- Keywords: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson dialogue with North Korea State Department nuclear weapons Pyongyang
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016SBTI6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The United States does not seek to topple the government of North Korea and would like to have a dialogue with Pyongyang at some point, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday (August 1).
"We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel," Tillerson told reporters at the State Department.
"We are not your enemy ... but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us, and we have to respond. And we hope that at some point they will begin to understand that and we would like to sit and have a dialogue with them." - Copyright Holder: STATE DEPARTMENT TV
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