Tillerson says can have dialogue with N. Korea: news reports

United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday that he can sit and have dialogue with North Korea when conditions are right, foreign news reports said.

Tillerson said the North must stop missile tests if it wants to have talks with the US, according to the reports by Reuters and the Associated Press.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

Specifying US preconditions for possible talks, Tillerson said on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Manila that stopping missile launches would be the "first and strongest signal" indicating the North is prepared for negotiations.

The secretary said the US has "other means of communication" open to North Korea if Pyongyang wants to deliver its desire to talk, the AP reported.

He also referred to the latest resolution by the United Nations to point out that the parties involved in Korean Peninsula issues can have dialogue when conditions are right. (Yonhap)