White House Officials Call North Korea's Policy Not Recognizing As A Nuclear Country Has Not Changed

JAKARTA - A senior White House official said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden's government policy had not changed, not recognizing North Korea as a nuclear-powered country.

This was conveyed by a spokesman for the National Security Council John Kirby, following Pete Hegseth's statement, the elected defense minister candidate for President Donald Trump who called North Korea a nuclear-powered country.

"I think our policy on it hasn't changed yet. We haven't made any such confessions," he told a news conference at the Foreign Press Center in Washington.

"I can't talk about what the new team will say. We haven't reached the confession yet," he said.

Kirby reiterated the focus of the government that will end efforts to sit with North Korea "without preconditions", while working to increase cooperation with allies, including South Korea and Japan, to address North Korea's threats.

"We can assume that they are not willing (to engage in dialogue). So, given their continued provocation, we have increased our information, intelligence and military capabilities around the peninsula," he said.

"That's how the President (Joe Biden) handled this," he said.

Kirby defended the policy regarding North Korea chosen by President Biden's Administration which was marked by its unsuccessful reach for the Pyongyang regime.

"I don't know how much more you can do besides telling Kim's regime that you are willing to sit without preconditions and start discussing," Kirby said.

"That's a pretty bold position you take out there," he said.

Earlier, Pete Hegseth described North Korea as a nuclear-powered country in a written answer submitted to the United States Senate Armed Services Committee, ahead of his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

When asked about Trump's possible attempts to continue dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kirby said it would depend on the president to come.

Commenting on the possibility of Pyongyang being involved in provocations around Trump's inauguration day Monday next week, Kirby refused to share intelligence assessments.

"We are watching this very closely," he said.