The United States' top diplomat said he is all ears to signs that North Korea is ready to engage in direct talks.

This followed an Olympic-driven thaw in relations between Mr Kim Jong Un's nuclear-armed North Korean regime and South Korea that has raised hopes of direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

"I am listening. I am not sending a lot of messages back because there is nothing to say to them at this point.

"So, I am listening for you to tell me you are ready to talk," Mr Rex Tillerson said in an interview with CBS news show 60 Minutes that was to air yesterday. Washington had said Pyongyang must take concrete steps towards denuclearisation before direct talks can begin.

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