The U.S. would welcome a conversation with North Korea about arms control, a top State Department official has said, while cautioning that the two sides may understand arms control and disarmament differently. 

U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins made the comments at the 2022 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington late last week, emphasizing the Biden administration’s frequent refrain that it is willing to talk “any time, any place” with Pyongyang.

“If [Kim Jong Un] picked up the phone and said ‘I want to talk about arms control’, we’re not going to say no,”