Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonGary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November Kushner says 'Alice in Wonderland' describes Trump presidency: Woodward book Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE said that upcoming talks between North and South Korea signal that the U.S.-led effort to inflict pressure on Pyongyang is working.

“It’s an indication the pressure campaign is causing the leadership, the regime in North Korea to begin to think about, ‘This can’t go on forever,’ ” Tillerson told The Associated Press.

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The top U.S. diplomat went on to call the negotiations between the two countries a “vehicle through which they would like to tell us that they would like to have some discussions."

The United Nations Security Council voted last month to impose additional sanctions on North Korea aimed at isolating the country's struggling economy.

Tillerson's comments come as the North and South, who have technically been at war since 1950, prepare to hold their first official talks in over two years next week.

The countries on Wednesday also reopened a phone line between them in Panmunjom.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on New Year's Day he would be willing to send athletes to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

North Korea's representative at the International Olympic Committee told reporters that the country would likely send a figure skating team to the games.

Tillerson said that the Olympics could be the subject of the call between Pyongyang and Seoul.

“It could be meaningful, it could be important. It could be a meeting about the Olympics and nothing else happens," he said, referring to the talks.

President Trump Donald John TrumpHR McMaster says president's policy to withdraw troops from Afghanistan is 'unwise' Cast of 'Parks and Rec' reunite for virtual town hall to address Wisconsin voters Biden says Trump should step down over coronavirus response MORE, who has taken part in a war of words with Kim and North Korean officials, took credit for the potential breakthrough between the North and the South on Thursday.