The U.S. will not engage in talks with North Korea until it ceases its nuclear and missile tests, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said, in comments quoted by a South Korean special presidential envoy on Thursday afternoon Washington DC time.

Hong Seok-hyun, a special envoy to Washington for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told media that Secretary Tillerson wanted Pyongyang to understand that the U.S. would not engage in hostility against the country.