Kim Yo Jong, First Vice Department Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. Yonhap News.

A U.S. State Department official said the U.S. government is watching with interest the recent statement by Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea, which suggested the possibility of dialogue with the U.S. on topics other than North Korea's denuclearization.

Seth Bailey, acting deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department, said at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's (DPAA) annual briefing in Arlington, Virginia, on the 7th (local time), "We have seen senior-level statements from the North Korean leadership, including Kim Yo Jong's recent statement, and we note with interest Kim Yo Jong's statement."

Bailey, who also serves as the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, stated, "The new South Korean government has shown its commitment to taking meaningful steps to reduce tensions across the Korean Peninsula and to engage with North Korea." He added, "Both President Trump and President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea have demonstrated their commitment to diplomacy and engagement with North Korea."

Earlier, in a statement on the 29th of last month, Kim Yo Jong suggested to the U.S. that it would be good to "seek other channels of contact based on such new thinking," provided that the U.S. acknowledges North Korea's "irreversible status and capabilities as a nuclear-weapon state" and the fundamentally changed "geopolitical environment" and other "changed realities."

This was interpreted as a reaffirmation of North Korea's stance that it would not negotiate with the goal of denuclearization, while suggesting that if the U.S. were to accept North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons, North Korea might be open to dialogue for other purposes, such as nuclear disarmament or managing the risk of military conflict.

Seth Bailey, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea, speaking. Yonhap News

The briefing that day was an occasion to explain the situation regarding the repatriation of Korean War veterans' remains to their families.

Bailey explained, "We have made it clear to North Korea that the United States considers the repatriation of the remains of U.S. servicemen to be one of its highest priorities and bilateral objectives. That is why the repatriation of remains was included as an important item in the joint statement between President Trump and North Korea at the Singapore summit in June 2018."

He added, "We remain committed to the principles outlined in the joint statement. President Trump has made it clear that he is willing to engage in negotiations with North Korea to achieve these policy objectives since the beginning of his second term."

In Singapore, President Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un issued a joint statement with four main points: establishing new U.S.-North Korea relations, building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, efforts for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and recovering the remains of prisoners of war and missing personnel.

Bailey also assessed that "the U.S.-South Korea trade agreement announced by President Trump on July 30th demonstrated the shared commitment of both countries to modernize and strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance."

He emphasized, "As an Indo-Pacific nation, the United States has a lasting interest in addressing the economic and security challenges in the region. We are committed to strengthening security in Northeast Asia using all instruments of power to deter aggressive actions, including North Korea's destabilizing behavior, and to respond to provocations."

Yonhap News