Despite the vicious threats and warnings that have been exchanged in recent weeks between the leaders of the United States and North Korea, the two governments appear to have at least a degree of dialogue – a development which analysts say is heartening.

On a visit to Beijing over the weekend, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Washington has channels through which it is able to communicate with Pyongyang and that it is not in “a dark situation, a blackout.”

“We can talk to them,” he told reporters in the Chinese capital. “We do talk to them.”

Further details are scant, although that simple confirmation brought a sense of relief that the rhetoric of President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator, might be merely posturing – although the president did appear to contradict his top foreign policy official on Sunday when he sent a tweet stating, “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.”

The White House said on Monday it was not the time to talk with Pyongyang, dampening Tillerson’s efforts to explore the possibility of dialogue with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

“We’ve been clear that now is not the time to talk,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters