[Flags of North Korea and the United States. (Photo from Eurasia)]

WASHINGTON: State department press secretary Ned Price said Tuesday that the United States remains committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy and dialogue.

The spokesperson also reiterated that the U.S. harbors no hostile intent toward North Korea. "We have no hostile intent. We harbor no hostile intent towards the DPRK. We are open to dialogue. We're open to diplomacy," Price said in a press briefing, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. His remarks come after North Korea launched what appeared to be two cruise missiles on Tuesday (Seoul time), marking its fifth missile launch so far this year. "We think dialogue and diplomacy is the most effective means to help us reach that overarching goal and that is the complete new denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," said Price.

North Korea has ignored U.S. overtures for dialogue for over a year since Joe Biden took office as president in January 2021, citing what it claims to be U.S. hostility toward the North. Unlike developing or testing ballistic missiles, cruise missile launches are not in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea. North Korea claimed to have test-fired a new "long-range cruise missile" in September, calling it a "strategic weapon of great significance."