US secretary of state Rex Tillerson has used his lengthiest enunciation of US foreign policy yet to reassure Kim Jong Un that the US does not seek to topple North Korea’s supreme leader or his regime and that Washington would like to “sit down” for talks.

Mr Tillerson made the remarks on Tuesday in an unexpected and rare visit to reporters at the state department after months of uncertainty over the direction of US foreign policy, rampant apparent contradictions with President Donald Trump and a vacation that had stoked rumours he was considering resigning. 

Senior defence and diplomatic officials have already said the US wants to avoid war with North Korea given its likely devastating impact, but Mr Tillerson made public in the clearest terms yet what officials have deliberated for months in private: that the US does not seek to topple Mr Kim or send US troops to invade. Those statements will probably appeal to both Pyongyang and Beijing and bolster the US position.