Anchor: The U.S. military is making it clear that Washington will keep its upper hand in nuclear negotiations with North Korea. The acting U.S. defense chief said at a congressional hearing that American troops remain ready to fight on the Korean Peninsula in case current diplomatic efforts fall through.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has highlighted the presence of a "plan B" in dealing with North Korea.  

[Sound bite: U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan]
"Denuclearization of North Korea remains the primary objective. Diplomacy is the primary track. What I can tell you militarily is we have not changed our position, our operations or our strength and are continuing to conduct readiness exercises in the event diplomacy fails."

While explaining the Pentagon's 2020 budget request to a House Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday, Shanahan also stressed that the U.S. will be vigilant on maintaining sanctions on North Korea.

Seated next to Shanahan, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford assured the panel that recent adjustments made in the U.S.-South Korea military exercises will not affect the allies' readiness.

[Sound bite: U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford]
"For clarity, we didn't end exercises. We re-scoped the exercises. And the one thing I'll start by saying is that I am absolutely confident that we have mission essential tasks for our U.S. forces and in our combined forces, and that the exercise construct that we have in place right now will allow them to continue to do what they say they need to do, and that is to 'fight tonight.'" 

With the military ensuring the U.S.'s upper hand in the nuclear negotiations, American diplomats remain adamantly against North Korea's calls for Washington to change its calculations for denuclearizing the regime.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News earlier this week that there is "only one real approach to denuclearization," and that is to begin to take down the threat.

Japan's Kyodo News said U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is likely to visit South Korea later this month and is expected to reaffirm that sanctions against the North should remain in place.

South Korean officials said U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun will also visit Seoul next week. While keeping sanctions on Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington are expected to touch on the South's planned provision of eight million dollars in humanitarian aid to the North.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.