Just a few days after pulling out of proposed talks with the South Koreans, North Korea has proposed direct talks with the United States. This suggestion reveals a very old North Korean instinct. The North has always maintained that South Korea is a puppet regime – citing the presence of US troops on southern soil. So, Pyongyang insists, it makes much more sense to talk directly to the puppet-master.

The Americans seem unimpressed by this approach. They prefer to have their South Korean allies at the table – partly to allay any South Korean fears that the Americans will do something behind their backs. Increasingly, the US also sees China – and Chinese pressure – as the key to getting North Korea to behave better. As the FT report points out, the Americans have also found their experience of negotiating with the North very exasperating. And Washington continues to insist on the North’s denuclearisation as a precondition for talks. All of that suggests that the North’s proposal of direct talks is liable to go nowhere.

But I wonder whether it is time for America to rethink its position. It is surely clear that “denuclearisation” should be the ultimate goal of talks – rather than a pre-condition. And it may be worth, trying to get more of a sense of the Kim Jong-eun regime. On a recent visit to South Korea, I found some analysts who were convinced that the North Korean leader is a dangerous megalomaniac – and others who believed that he remains a closet reformer. It is worth the Americans testing the new regime, through direct engagement.