North Korean WMD pose threat to neighbors, violate UN Security Council resolutions: US official

A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 29, 2020. AP

North Korea's nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) pose a threat to its neighbors and the international community, a State Department official said Thursday, reaffirming U.S. efforts to denuclearize the North.

Jalina Porter, deputy spokeswoman for the department, reiterated that the ongoing review of U.S. policy toward North Korea will evaluate all available options.

"North Korea's WMD programs, as reflected in multiple UN Security Council resolutions, are unlawful and constitute a threat to international peace and security," she told a daily press briefing.

Porter was responding to a question about a possible difference between South Korea and the United States over how to approach the North Korean nuclear issue, given that Washington frequently stresses the need to denuclearize North Korea but that Seoul often uses an expression such as the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The spokeswoman did not offer any direct answer.

However, when asked if the U.S. planned to again reach out to North Korea for engagement, the department official said the U.S. remains committed to the denuclearization of North Korea.

"But we will say that we remain concerned about North Korea's nuclear activities and we're committed to denuclearization of North Korea," she told the telephonic press briefing.

The U.S. earlier said it has reached out "multiple times" to North Korea since mid-February, but that the reclusive North has so far remained unresponsive.

In what Seoul officials have called the North's own way of sending messages to the U.S., First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said on Wednesday that Pyongyang will continue to ignore U.S. overtures until Washington drops its hostile policy toward the North.

The U.S. is currently undergoing a comprehensive review of its policy that it says will lead to a new and best approach toward how to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue. Pyongyang has so far conducted six nuclear tests, the last one in September 2017.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said diplomacy will be at the center of U.S. foreign policy, including its efforts to denuclearize North Korea.

Porter said the North Korea policy review will evaluate "all options available." (Yonhap)