{"id":24512,"date":"2018-02-18T12:21:47","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T12:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/18\/is-momentum-building-for-talks-between-the-united-states-and-north-korea\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:04:29","slug":"is-momentum-building-for-talks-between-the-united-states-and-north-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/munich-security-forum\/2018\/02\/18\/is-momentum-building-for-talks-between-the-united-states-and-north-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Is momentum building for talks between the United States and North Korea?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MUNICH \u2014 A Republican lawmaker said the United States is \u201cof course\u201d open to talk with North Korea in an effort to defuse an escalating conflict over that country\u2019s nuclear weapons program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, a member of the Armed Services Committee, made the comment at the Munich Security Conference in response to a question from a Chinese government delegate, who asked whether there was support in Congress to engage in a dialogue with the rogue regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week ago, Vice President Mike Pence first opened the prospect for some form of bilateral engagement <\/a>all the while continuing the international community\u2019s sanctions in an interview with the Washington Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe point is, no pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearization,\u201d Pence was quoted as saying in the newspaper\u2019s Feb. 11 report. \u201cSo the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. But if you want to talk, we\u2019ll talk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turner today renewed Washington\u2019s call that China must take a leading role in making the regime of Kim Jong Un abandon its nuclear program. Without Beijing, he argued, there would be no resolution to the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fu Ying, chairwoman of the committee on foreign affairs of China\u2019s National People\u2019s Congress, told a panel of U.S. lawmakers that the United States was overestimating Beijing\u2019s clout with North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to disappoint you that China does not have the magic tool,\u201d Fu said. \u201cOtherwise we wouldn\u2019t have waited for North Korea to have six nuclear tests.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\t