WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is open to talks between the United States and North Korea, while remaining determined to apply “maximum pressure” over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme, the White House said on Wednesday.

During a phone call with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-In, Trump expressed his openness to holding talks with Pyongyang “at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances.”

“The two leaders underscored the importance of continuing the maximum pressure campaign against North Korea,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders added in a statement that confirmed a South Korea account of the phone call.

Moon briefed Trump on his government’s talks with a delegation from the North on Tuesday, which resulted in Pyongyang agreeing to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month, both sides said.

Trump also told Moon that Vice President Mike Pence would lead the US delegation to the Olympic Games, the White House said.

Pence “is attending to reinforce the strong US presence on the Korean peninsula and send a clear signal to the North Korean regime,” a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On the trip, the US vice president will also “review ICBM defence systems” in Alaska, and visit allies in Japan, the official said.

Moon willing to meet Kim Jong-Un

In Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-In said he would be willing to sit down with the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un.

“It is only the beginning,” Moon told a press conference. “Yesterday was the first step and I think we had a good start. Bringing North Korea to talks for denuclearisation is the next step we must take.”

He was willing to hold a summit “at any time”, he said, as long as it was “under the right conditions”.

“But it cannot be a meeting for meeting’s sake. To hold a summit, the right conditions must be created and certain outcomes must be guaranteed.”

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2018