Anchor: The U.S. appears to be sending mixed messages to North Korea. A day after the top U.S. defense official warned that the North's provocations could escalate into war very quickly, the secretary of state said that Washington would continue efforts for dialogue.
Alannah Hill has the details.
 
Report: The U.S. State Department on Tuesday held an annual event to report on international religious freedom. North Korea was labeled a Country of Particular Concern for violating religious freedom for the 16th consecutive year. 
 
At the end of the event, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. will continue efforts to hold dialogue, but made it clear that North Korea’s steps for its denuclearization should come first.
 
[Sound bite: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson]
“We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to a dialogue, but that's up to him.”
 
Tillerson appears to have tried to ease escalating tensions with Pyongyang by stressing that Washington prefers diplomatic means to military action.
 
However, the U.S. is simultaneously sending strong warnings against the North. Ahead of Tillerson's remarks, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday that if North Korea attacks the U.S. it would mean a war.
 
[Sound bite: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis]
“If they fire at the U.S., it could escalate into war very quickly. Yes, that's called war if they shoot at us.”
 
Former supreme commander of NATO, James Stavridis, said that even though North Korea put on hold its attack on the U.S. territory of Guam, that does not mean the danger of military conflict has passed.
 
Both the U.S. and North Korea have toned down their rhetoric, but it remains to be seen whether the standoff situation has fully come to an end.
Alannah Hill, KBS World Radio News.
 

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