Editorial: Peace, the best Christmas present

Peace talks could be on the cards between North Korea and the USA.

Could this be the Christmas gift the world has been looking for?

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has extended an olive branch of sorts to North Korea, inviting them to talks, without pre-conditions.

Until now the US position has been that North Korea must abandon its nuclear programme before talks could begin.

Yesterday Mr Tillerson signalled a major change in that policy – inviting North Korea to round table talks, although he did add that North Korea would need to demonstrate a period of quiet for that to work.

"Its going to be tough to talk if in the middle of our talks you decide to test another device," he said. "We need a period of quiet."

Most now agree that North Korea is a nuclear power. Whether they have yet mastered the technology to hit the US with nuclear armed missiles is a moot point. If not, they can only be months away from being so capable.

It has been a frightening year with US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un exchanging insults and escalating tensions.

Fears of a nuclear war have been scarily real and not just between US and North Korea, but possibly a wider conflict involving China and Russia also who have indicated they would defend North Korea if the US attacked first.

How North Korea will respond to Mr Tillerson's request is not yet clear. There has been talk of a Christmas day nuclear or missile test.

If Mr Trump can remain civil on his Twitter account and not undermine Mr Tillerson's concession there is hope.

Footnote: The US administration has since distanced itself from Mr Tillerson's concession, saying the US remains insistent on North Korea abandoning its nuclear programme and that talks in the near future remain unlikely.