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US: Pence ready to talk to NKorea, but they canceled meeting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, talks with North Korean defector Ji Seong-ho, right, as Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier, an American who died last year, days after his release from captivity in North Korea, listens at the Cheonan Memorial in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. Pence is using his appearance at the Winter Olympics to call on the international community to grow tougher on North Korea's nuclear program and human rights abuses. The Associated Press Tuesday Feb 20, 2018 at 4:21 PM State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says that Pence "was ready to take this opportunity". The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Trump administration says Vice President Mike Pence was ready to meet with representatives from North Korea during his visit to the Olympic Games in South Korea but that North Korea canceled at the last minute. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says that Pence "was ready to take this opportunity" and would have used the meeting to emphasize U.S. concerns about the North's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Nauert says the U.S. regrets North Korea's "failure to seize this opportunity."