The U.S. State Department has reiterated that the principle of diplomacy remains the basis for the U.S. response to North Korea's recent efforts to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The department's principal deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said in a Friday briefing that the U.S. continues to seek diplomacy and is prepared to meet without preconditions. 

Porter said President Biden himself has also made clear that he is open to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un where there is a serious agreement on the table on the basis of working-level negotiations. She said that is because, as witnessed in past administrations, leader-level summits alone are no guarantee of progress. 

But she added that North Korea continues to not respond.

The remarks were in response to a question on whether U.S. efforts were also intensifying proportionately to the North's escalating provocations, whether through pressure or diplomacy.

Porter said Pyongyang's decision to pursue escalating tests of ballistic missiles risks raising tensions and destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and while the door remains open to diplomacy, the U.S. will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and that of its allies.