Hong Kong — The US is ready to engage in talks about North Korea’s nuclear programme even as it maintains pressure on Kim Jong-un’s regime, Vice-President Mike Pence said, signalling a shift in American policy. Pence and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to pursue dialogue with North Korea during conversations at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the Washington Post reported. Pence dubbed the new strategy "maximum pressure and engagement at the same time". "The point is, no pressure comes off until they are actually doing something that the alliance believes represents a meaningful step toward denuclearisation," the Post quoted Pence as saying during an interview on his way home from South Korea. "So the maximum pressure campaign is going to continue and intensify. But if you want to talk, we’ll talk. "I think it is different from the last 20 years," Pence said, according to the Post. When asked what exact steps North Korea would have to take to get sanctions relief, he sa...

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