Pragmatism required as well as creativity

In an acknowledgment that the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have been talking at cross-purposes, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that he hoped both sides could "be a little more creative" with what they bring to the table when the two sides restart talks aimed at denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The US position hasn't changed, he said, it still wants full and final denuclearization of the DPRK in a way that it could verify.

But that in itself constitutes a change of approach from before - one that US President Donald Trump signaled when he met with DPRK top leader Kim Jung-un in the demilitarized zone - as it drops the previous demand the DPRK denuclearize before receiving anything in return.