Pushing for the possibility of negotiations with North Korea, South Korean President Moon Jae-in says negotiations should be held with all options open, saying he concedes it would take a long time for North Korea to totally denuclearize, even if they agreed to.

North Korea has rejected the idea of giving up its nuclear arsenal, while US officials have suggested that disarmament should be a precondition for holding any talks. Needless to say, these two positions haven’t exactly made talks likely.

Moon says the advances of North Korea’s program make the dismantling of it a long-term effort, with the capacity something that would take time to completely destroy. Moon has been an advocate of talks, and this may be an attempt to open a window to starting talks before any concessions are made.

South Korea has officially sought denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and Moon has ruled out hosting US nuclear arms in the future. North Korea, however, believes it needs a credible deterrent force to keep the US from attacking them outright, and that’s going to have to be resolved as part of any deal to get them to disarm.