The United States is not ruling out working-level talks with North Korean officials on the sidelines of Southeast Asian regional meetings in Thailand this week, with experts noting Pyongyang's recent missile launch is unlikely to reverse Washington's current diplomatic efforts.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will arrive in Bangkok on Aug. 1, where he will co-chair the U.S.- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial.
On Aug. 2, Pompeo will participate in the East Asia Summit (EAS) Ministerial and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial, and will hold a bilateral meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai to discuss ways to further strengthen the U.S.-Thai alliance.
"I head to Asia tomorrow midday, I'll be in Bangkok for a couple of days. We hope that we can have working-level discussions starting again very soon," Pompeo said Monday when asked about diplomatic engagement with North Korea during an event in Washington.
"We're not going to talk about the specific bilateral meetings, other than the ones that have been announced," said a senior State Department official in a briefing when asked if U.S. officials will hold talks with North Korea officials on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings.
In recent days, the U.S.-led United Nations Command said it will continue to support confidence-building measures setting the stage for dialogue, and for diplomats to work toward permanent peace and final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea.
After North Korea's latest ballistic missile test last Thursday, Pompeo suggested talks could still continue.
"I think we're still going to proceed," said the top U.S. diplomat in an interview with Fox News. "I mean, I think we're still going to go sit down and have a conversation about this. North Korea has engaged in activity before we were having diplomatic conversations far worse than this."
Source : VOA