A U.S. State Department official who handles issues concerning nuclear weapons and the nonproliferation regime refuted a recent poll that showed about two-thirds of South Koreans support the country's own nuclear armament.

At a forum hosted by The Korea Society in Washington on Friday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nuclear Affairs Alexandra Bell said "polls are somewhat framed by the way the question is being asked."

Bell said South Korean people would give a different answer if asked whether they would want to pursue an indigenous nuclear weapons program and deal with the consequences from violating commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT).

A poll by the Korea Institute for National Unification in June showed that 66 percent of South Korean people supported nuclear armament if North Korea does not give up on its nuclear weapons.

The official said that it is worth noting that President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden have repeatedly reaffirmed the long-standing commitment to the mutual obligations under the NPT as the cornerstone of the nonproliferation regime.

Bell, the chief envoy to the allies' Nuclear Consultative Group(NCG), called to broaden the discussion with the South Korean people about coordinating the extended deterrence commitments and dealing with challenges using both the nuclear extended deterrence and conventional means.