All Eyes Are on Tillerson and North Korean Counterpart at Asean Meetingbr Victor Andres Manhit said that That Tillerson would come here and mostly want to talk about North Korea showsbr that there’s a problem because that’s not the subject we want to discuss at all,br Thornton said that The secretary has no plans to meet the North Korean foreign minister in Manila, and I don’t expect to see that happen,br While he signaled this week an increased willingness to talk to the North with fewer preconditions, he is also likelybr to ask every diplomat he encounters in Manila to take steps to further isolate North Korea, Ms. Thornton said.br But Mr. Tillerson’s first appearance at a departmental press briefing in Washington this past weekbr and his unusually restrained comments about North Korea — he assured the North "the security they seek" and offered a new chance at economic prosperity if it surrenders its nuclear weapons — had some speculating that he might welcome a meeting with Mr. Ri.br Victor Cha, who served as the Asian affairs director on President George W. Bush’s National Security Council, said in an interviewbr that Mr. Tillerson would want to show not only the North Koreans but the rest of the world that he was open to a dialogue with the North if only to prove that alternatives to tougher sanctions had been tried.br 5, 2017br MANILA — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson will for the first time on Sunday be in the same room with his North Korean counterpart,br and much of the world will be watching whether the two even acknowledge each other.br Mr. Tillerson and North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, are this year’s most intriguing pairing,br and their diplomatic choreography — whether they avoid each other or sit down together — could set the course for the Trump administration’s moves on its top foreign policy priority for the rest of the year.