US in contact with N. Korea, probing willingness to talk: Tillerson 10/1/2017 9:38:18 AM US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Chinese President Xi Jinping before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on September 30, 2017 AFP, Sep. 30, 2017  - The United State has open channels of communication with North Korea and is investigating whether the regime is ready to enter talks on giving up its nuclear weapons programme, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Saturday. Tillerson's disclosure follows an escalating war of words between US President Donald Trump and North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Un. 'We are probing, so stay tuned,' he told reporters after talks with Chinese officials in Beijing. 'We ask. We have lines of communication with Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout, we have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang.' 'We can talk to them, we do talk to them,' he said. Asked whether...

Confronting North Korea and Iran Iran nuclear weapons - North Koreas Kim Jong Al Arabyia, 26 September 2017  - The weak Iranian nuclear deal, which the former American administration agreed upon, is partially responsible for North Korea’s surge in developing its nuclear program. Iran was rewarded with a sum of $150 billion as per the deal and the country managed to retrieve funds withheld since the days of the Shah, with profits. It was also granted massive contracts to develop its technical and manufacturing abilities and most international sanctions against them were lifted. A besieged North Korea has also chosen to blackmail the world because it views this as profitable trade. Just like Iran threatened to burn Israel, North Korea is threatening Japan. Its second nuclear missile test two weeks ago sailed over Japan’s skies. There are now no doubts over the threats that North Korea poses. Washington has two options now – either offer North Korean leader...

Tension with North Korea more political than military, US chief of staff says Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford tells senators North Korea has not changed the posture of its troops despite flaring political tensions with Washington WASHINGTON, AFP , 26 September 2017 -  US relations with North Korea may be 'charged' but tensions in the standoff remain political rather than military, the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said Tuesday. 'While the political space is clearly very charged right now, we haven't seen a change in the posture of North Korean forces,' General Joe Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee. 'We watch that very carefully,' Dunford said, in response to questions from Republican Senator John McCain about rising tensions with Pyongyang after US President Donald Trump mockingly labeled North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un 'Little Rocket Man' and said his regime 'won't be a...