The United States is probing North Korea to see whether it is interested in dialogue and has multiple direct channels of communication with Pyongyang, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday, Reuters reported.
The disclosure came as Tillerson expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea, which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will never allow that to happen.
“We are probing, so stay tuned,” Tillerson told a small group of reporters during a trip to China. “We ask: ‘Would you like to talk?'”
He then said the United States had “a couple of, three channels open to Pyongyang.”
“We can talk to them. We do talk to them,” he said, without elaborating.
Tillerson’s remarks followed a day of meetings in Beijing, which has been alarmed by recent exchanges of war-like threats and personal insults between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump.