White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Photo by CBS News
The US has declared that it remains open to "authentic and credible" negotiations with North Korea – but only if the Asian country shows it is serious about abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
"We're open to credible, authentic negotiations, but that's going to require clear signals from the North Korean regime, signals we haven't seen so far," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
"The belligerent actions and words that we've seen emanating from the North Korean regime actually indicate the opposite,” Earnest said, as cited by international media.
North Korea has increased its bellicose rhetoric following fresh UN sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test and joint military manoeuvres by the US and South Korea.