Tillerson says talks with North Korea may be ‘in the near future’

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has expressed optimism about the possibility of talks between Washington and Pyongyang “in the near future,” after North Korea showed restraint in not conducting nuclear or missile tests.

"We have had no missile launches or provocative acts on the part of North Korea since the unanimous adoption of the UN Security Council resolution," Tillerson said in a televised briefing in Washington on Tuesday.

"We hope that this is the beginning of this signal that we've been looking for - that they are ready to restrain their level of tensions, they're ready to restrain their provocative acts, and that perhaps we are seeing our pathway to some time in the near future having some dialogue," Tillerson added

The remarks were made as the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on 16 Chinese and Russian individuals and companies, accusing them of involvement in business with North Korea and helping the country to advance its nuclear and missile programs.

"It is unacceptable for individuals and companies in China, Russia, and elsewhere to enable North Korea to generate income used to develop weapons of mass destruction and destabilize the region," US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said.

The department said the sanctions were meant to disrupt the economic ties that enable North Korea to expand its weapons program despite recurrent rounds of resolution banning the activity.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula heightened last month when Washington engineered tougher sanctions in the United Nations Security Council over the North’s testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump threatened Pyongyang with “fire, fury ... the likes of which this world has never seen.”

Pyongyang in response said that it would launch missiles into the waters near the US Pacific island of Guam, where American troops are stationed and some 160,000 US citizens live.

Last week, however, North Korea, which is under mounting international pressure over its missile and military nuclear programs, “postponed” the move.

The US is against North Korea’s nuclear weapons but Pyongyang says it will not give up on its nuclear deterrence unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward the country and dissolves the US-led UN command in South Korea. Thousands of US soldiers are stationed in South Korea and Japan.

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