phnompenhpost.com
Image from article, with caption: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with staff at the US Embassy in Brussels on December 5, 2017. Virginia Mayo/Pool via The New York Times
Excerpt:The White House has been more focused on the beleaguered Tillerson’s public offer to begin talks with North Korea on any issues, even “the weather,” from which he backtracked Friday in a presentation to the United Nations.
But the reference to planning for North Korean collapse, while not drawing wide notice, caught the attention of those who have been drawing up military plans for a number of possible scenarios, including US pre-emptive strikes. Asked whether Tillerson had referred by mistake to entreaties to the Chinese that previous administrations kept secret, Steven Goldstein, the new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said it was quite deliberate.
“The secretary reiterated the position he has taken in meetings with Chinese counterparts,” he said. “He would like the US and Chinese military leaders to develop a plan for the safe disposition of North Korea’s nuclear weapons were the regime to collapse.” He added: “While the secretary has never advocated for regime change, we all have an obligation to be prepared for any scenario.”
There is no indication that the Chinese have responded, or that military officials have met — though Beijing would almost certainly keep that secret if it occurred.
According to current and former US officials, the contingency plans to seize North Korea’s nuclear arsenal have grown in complexity in recent years, largely because the North Korean arsenal has grown.
David E. Sanger/The New York Times
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