S.Korea's Blue House says Tillerson's remarks re-emphasize dialogue with DPRK

SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's remarks re-emphasized the U.S. position to encourage the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to return to a dialogue table.

Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a statement that Tillerson's remarks were assessed to have stressed the U.S. position again that urged the DPRK to stop provocation and threat and return to a dialogue table.

According to media reports, Tillerson said at a forum in Washington co-hosted by the Korea Foundation and the Atlantic Council that the United States was "ready to talk whenever North Korea (DPRK) is ready to talk."

"And we're ready to have the first meeting without preconditon," he said.

It was different from the previous U.S. stance demanding the DPRK show its sincere attitude toward denuclearization first before launching any dialogue with Pyongyang.

It was not clear yet whether Tillerson's remarks were totally in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration's position.

The Blue House spokesman said South Korea and the United States had opened a door to dialogue with the DPRK and urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table. Enditem