Are the lines of communication between the U.S. and North Korea open or not? Are negotiations taking place between officials of both countries to determine the future of North Korea's nuclear weapons program? The answer appears to be somewhere between yes and probably yes.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Saturday said the U.S. was in talks with North Korea.

"We can talk to them, we do talk to them," Tillerson said Saturday at a briefing in Beijing.

Then, on Sunday morning, President Donald Trump seemed to throw cold water on the notion, tweeting, "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!"

"Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail," Trump tweeted later.

Sunday afternoon, State Dept. spokeswoman Heather Nauert tweeted a definitive "Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now," but cautioned "They won't be open forever."

#DPRK will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime @StateDept

— Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) October 1, 2017

Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now. They won't be open forever @StateDept @potus

— Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) October 1, 2017

While Trump has not minced words when it comes to his assessment of North Korea's leader, other administration officials appear to be continuing the task of trying to reach a viable solution to an issue that remains volatile.  

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