WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump said Monday he might be willing to accept an overture from North Korea to hold talks but only "under the right conditions."
He acknowledged that a war with the nuclear-armed nation could lead to "tremendous" loss of life, "numbers that nobody has ever even contemplated, never thought of."
"So they (North Korean officials) want to talk. First time _ they want to talk. And we'll see what happens," Trump said at the White House. "We'll see what happens. But something has to be done."
The Trump administration has repeatedly argued that North Korea must indicate a willingness to move away from arming itself with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles for talks to take place.
On Monday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the Trump administration to lower that threshold and called on both sides to cede ground.
Moon also said North Korea seemed serious about holding talks, although it remained unlikely leader Kim Jong Un would agree to any compromise on his arsenal.
Trump blamed his four predecessors in the White House for failing to "have solved this long before I got here."
The government in Pyongyang first tested a nuclear device in 2006, when President George W. Bush was in the White House.
It conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in September, after Trump was in office. In November, it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that U.S. officials said was capable of reaching most of the United States.
In a rare slap at Russia, Trump accused Moscow of undercutting U.S. sanctions aimed at isolating North Korea economically and diplomatically. He said China was doing "more probably than ever" thanks in large part to his relationship, he said, with President Xi Jinping.
