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South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the UN Headquarters in New York on Apr. 28. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

The top diplomat in the administration of US President Donald Trump has made the first mention of the possibility of giving North Korea financial aid in exchange for denuclearization. Even as the US government continues pressuring Pyongyang to return to the table to discuss denuclearization, it is sending consistent and concrete messages about dialogue with the North.

“Since 1995, the United States has provided over $1.3 billion dollars in aid to North Korea, and we look forward to resuming our contributions once the DPRK begins to dismantle its nuclear weapons and missile technology programs,” said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council that he chaired at the UN Headquarters in New York on Apr. 28.

“Over the years, we have withdrawn our own nuclear weapons from South Korea and offered aid to North Korea as proof of our intent to de-escalate the situation and normalize relations,” Tillerson said. This is the first time that the Trump administration has proposed specific measures it could take in exchange for North Korea‘s denuclearization. Tillerson also reconfirmed on Apr. 28 that the American “goal is not regime change.”

During an interview with NPR on Apr. 27, Tillerson declared that the US was willing to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang if it accepted the agenda of giving up its nuclear program and said that such talks would “obviously [. . .] be the way we would like to solve” the North Korean nuclear issue. But his remarks before the UN Security Council appear to have gone beyond the interview because they were more specific and because they were prepared in advance for an official meeting with the foreign ministers of 15 countries.

Along with the message of dialogue with Pyongyang, Tillerson also described ways to put more pressure on North Korea during the meeting on Apr. 28. He urged members of the UN to “suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations with North Korea.” This was an approach the US government has been taking behind closed doors since the administration of former president Barack Obama.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the UN Headquarters in New York on Apr. 28. (AP/Yonhap News)

Tillerson also said that the US “will not hesitate to sanction third-country entities and individuals supporting the DPRK’s illegal activities.” While these remarks are aimed at China, diplomatic sources conclude that the US does not intend to immediately impose such sanctions (known as a secondary boycott), unless there is some specific trigger, such as North Korea carrying out a sixth nuclear test.

In related news, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton and other senior American officials have been making comments since last weekend suggesting that the timetable for bringing North Korea back to negotiations about denuclearization is “the next few months.” The next few months are expected to be a major watershed point for affairs on the Korean Peninsula.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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