WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier, National Intelligence Director James Clapper said the notion of getting North Korea to denuclearize was probably a “lost cause” because the nuclear weapons program is essential to the government's survival.
"That is not our position," Kirby told reporters. "Our policy objective is to obtain a verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. That is both the goal and what we want to see."
Pyongyang has conducted two failed missile launches this month and conducted what is believed to be its fifth nuclear test on September 9.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said during a trip to Washington, DC last week his country and the United States will seek a new resolution in the UN Security Council to close existing loopholes and impose additional sanctions on North Korea.
