straitstimes.com; see also.
Image from article, with caption: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that the Trump administration had already provided assurances to China's leadership with regard to issues on North Korea.
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson let slip last week a few tantalising details about one of the nation's most secret military contingency plans: how the United States would try to race inside North Korea to seize its nuclear weapons if it ever saw evidence that Kim Jong Un's government was collapsing. ...
North Korea has defied past predictions of collapse, and one does not appear imminent. But if a collapse were to occur, the aftermath could present grave dangers. US officials have envisioned that North Korean officers, fearing the end of Kim's government, might lob a nuclear weapon at South Korea or Japan as a last, desperate act - or detonate it on North Korean territory to make occupation impossible. ...
[T]he 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. ...
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