Rex Tillerson said he was ready to meet with the dictator run-state “without precondition” but “North Korea must earn its way back to the table”.
This indicated a possible shift in US policy but the White House said it is not the right time to talk.
Mr Tillerson said at a meeting with the UN Security Council in New York that “a sustained cessation of North Korea’s threatening behaviour must occur before talks can begin.”
He went on to say: “Let’s just meet. We can talk about the weather if you want.”
These comments came two weeks after North Korea tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which it said could carry a nuclear weapon to the US.
Mr Tillerson told the council: “We have been clear that all options remain on the table in the defence of our nation but we do not seek nor do we want war with North Korea.”
The Secretary of State insisted that the US will use all necessary means to defend itself against North Korea but they also hope to resolve the issue through diplomacy.
He said Washington will continue the “pressure campaign” of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation “until denuclearisation is achieved.”
“We will, in the meantime, keep our channels of communication open.”
Mr Tillerson went on to urge the international community to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea and put into place other steps to deprive Kim Jong-un’s regime of funding its weapons programs.
He said by ”continuing to allow North Korean labourers to toil in slave-like conditions inside Russia in exchange for wages used to fund nuclear weapons programs calls into question Russia’s dedication as a partner for peace,“ after he urged Russia and China to do more.
“Similarly, as Chinese crude oil flows to North Korean refineries, the United States questions China’s commitment to solving an issue that has serious implications for the security of its own citizens.”
North Korean Ambassador Ja Song-nam told the UN Security Council that Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons is a self-defensive measure aimed at protecting its sovereign rights from “the U.S. nuclear threat and blackmail.”
Meanwhile, according to John Park, Director of the Korea Working Group of the Harvard Kennedy School, the hermit kingdom cannot be stopped by China “anytime soon” due to a longer Chinese “game plan”.
China has been urged by the US President Donald Trump to do more to help put a stop to Kim Jong-un’s nuclear dream.
Mr Park said: “China can do more. First of all, if you look at North Korea’s overall trade, 90 per cent of that trade is with China.
“In terms of the will, I think that the Chinese are very focused on what I call ‘Beijing sunshine policy’ with Chinese characteristics.
“This is China’s way of trying to build up the workers party in North Korea. Trying to engage this regime to move away from nuclear development and economic development overall.
“I think as much as North Korea is engaged in this type of destabilising activity, North Korea is not going to be jettisoned by China anytime soon.
“This is part of a longer-term game plan that I don’t see much deviation from at this late stage of the game”.