Recently John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary said that the US continues to seek full and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and believes diplomacy is the best approach to achieve this goal.

According to Yonhap News Agency, he also stressed the significance of properly executing UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions to prevent the North from further expanding its missile capabilities.

"Clearly, we don't want North Korea's missile program to continue to represent a threat to our South Korean partners or the area." So we continue to call on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to get down and talk about the path ahead," Kirby said at a press conference here on Friday. “

''In view of this, we haven't changed our views. We want the peninsula to be completely and verifiably de-nuclearized. We believe diplomacy is the greatest path to pursue in order to get there, and we're prepared to sit down with no strings attached," he continued.

North Korea suggested on Thursday that it may consider reviving "all temporarily-suspended operations," including nuclear and long-range missile tests. Since November 2017, Pyongyang has kept a self-imposed embargo on nuclear and long-range missile testing. North Korea made the announcement after launching four short-range missiles at the beginning of the year.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in returns after 3-nation trip

Philippine islands jolted by 6.5-magnitude earthquake; no tsunami alert issued

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum has been rescheduled, Check Details