Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson Calls For New Approach To North Korea

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says 20 years of U.S. efforts have failed to stop the North Korean nuclear program. He's trying to come up with a new approach.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is calling for a new approach to North Korea. He's in Asia now consulting with Japan, South Korea and China over how to deal with Pyongyang. The options, though, are limited, as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Tillerson was blunt at his news conference in Tokyo. Two decades of diplomacy and pressure have failed to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

REX TILLERSON: So we have 20 years of failed approach, and that includes a period in which the United States provided $1.35 billion in assistance to North Korea.

KELEMEN: He seemed to be alluding to food aid during a famine in North Korea and fuel provided under a deal to freeze its nuclear program in the 1990s. The secretary says he's talking about a new approach, and though the Trump administration has suggested all options are on the table, Tillerson appeared to be trying to ease concerns about military options.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TILLERSON: North Korea and its people need not fear the United States or their neighbors in the region who seek only to live in peace with North Korea.

KELEMEN: So was that an olive branch to Pyongyang? Joel Wit of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University says he wouldn't read too much into this.

JOEL WIT: I know the North Koreans are watching very, very closely what the Trump administration is thinking. And so I'm not quite sure how they'll take that. But you're right. They could take it as saying, maybe there is an opening here.

KELEMEN: There are some Korea watchers, Wit included, who say this is a chance for President Trump to test his negotiating skills. After all, he's known for his book "The Art Of The Deal."

WIT: Under the right conditions, it may be possible to at least stop the growth of their nuclear and missile programs.

KELEMEN: But that means offering North Korea something, perhaps some regional security guarantees. Wit says the U.S. also needs China's help to keep up the pressure for what he calls coercive diplomacy. Secretary Tillerson will be in China this weekend to talk about that. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Washington.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.