A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday that the United States remains ready to meet with North Korea at any time and any place, stressing the importance of dialogue in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. 

Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, made the remarks during a webinar jointly hosted by the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council and Seoul-based think tank East Asia Foundation.

While noting the three meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Knapper said the U.S. has emphasized constantly that the door to diplomacy remains open.

He continued that the U.S. is ready to sit down with the North any place and at any time because it regards dialogue and resolving issues through diplomacy in a peaceful manner as being absolutely paramount.

The official also said that it is critically important for South Korea and the U.S. to stay in lockstep and to be fully lashed up going forward to denuclearize the communist state.