WASHINGTON (Anadolu) – The White House says that the U.S. is seeking to restart diplomatic talks with North Korea after Pyongyang passed a new law that raises the specter of a nuclear confrontation.
“We continue to seek diplomacy, and are prepared to meet without preconditions,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“The United States remains focused on continuing to coordinate closely with our allies and partners to address the threats posed by DPRK. And to advance our shared objective of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That has not changed,” she added, referring to North Korea using an acronym.
The comments come after North Korea passed a new law requiring its military to carry out a preemptive nuclear attack if a nation attempts to overthrow its leader, Kim Jong-un, according to multiple reports.
The law declares North Korea a nuclear weapons state, and says Pyongyang will never relinquish the weapons, which Kim said the country needs to counter the U.S.
“The utmost significance of legislating nuclear-weapons policy is to draw an irretrievable line so that there can be no bargaining over our nuclear weapons,” Kim told the country’s legislature, according to state media.
Two weeks ago, the United States and South Korea began their biggest joint war games in years as part of what they claimed to be countermeasures against threats from North Korea.
Seoul also called for boosting the military capability to fend off North Korean missiles, while strengthening the extended U.S. deterrence, including its nuclear umbrella.
North Korea has test-fired a record number of missiles this year amid claims by officials in Seoul and Washington that Pyongyang appears to be preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time in the past five years.
North Korea conducted its sixth and last nuclear test in September 2017. Following inconclusive negotiations with the U.S., it dismantled a nuclear facility and has not conducted any other nuclear tests since then.
The U.S. has warned it would push for additional sanctions if Pyongyang conducts a seventh nuclear test.
Back in July, the North Korean leader said his country was “ready to mobilize” its nuclear deterrent in any future military conflict with the United States and South Korea.