According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the United States is now engaging directly in conversations with North Korean officials. (It's worth mentioning that this communication is not taking place over Twitter.) This is the first time diplomatic talks between the two administrations have been confirmed. Although Tillerson acknowledged that the White House's willingness to communicate directly with Pyongyang doesn't mean the U.S. is changing its stance on aggressively opposing North Korea's nuclear development. Quite the opposite.
Tillerson, in his cheeky 'I've literally never done this before' way, told reporters on a recent trip to Bejing to "stay tuned" as the White House continues "probing" Kim Jong-un to see if he would be willing to negotiate.
However, just days earlier, South Korea's Broadcasting System confirmed that missiles had been moved from North Korea’s Missile Research and Development Facility, giving Seoul a reason to believe Kim is planning on flexing his geopolitical muscles in the near future. If Pyongyang's recent aggression says anything about where Kim Jong-un stands in regards to slowing down North Korea's nuclear program, these channels of communication with the U.S. won't lead to anything productive.
This Cold War-esque approach to foreign policy has seen both countries launch threatening, catastrophic statements at one another both to their respective domestic news channels, and in Trump's case to the entire UN General Assembly. "If (the U.S.) is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," Trump said.
As a follow up, or in this administration known more commonly as a 'let's try and retract from Trump's bastardization of public policy,' State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert released the following statement:
During his press conference, Rex acknowledged that the whole situation was a bit overheated right now, which I'm sure has absolutely nothing to do with his boss's inability to differentiate Twitter rants from foreign policy.
None
It's only a matter of time before any formal diplomatic channels of communications are thwarted because too many Elton John lyrics were used in combat.
