Members of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs held a debate Tuesday on whether North Korea should be regarded as a nuclear state.

It comes after the new head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, confirmed last week that North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon in 2006.

Legislator Yoon Sang-hyun of the ruling Grand National Party said it would be problematic if Washington shifts the focus of its policies on North Korea from ones centering on nuclear dismantlement to ones more concerned with nuclear nonproliferation. Yoon said Seoul must identify Washington’s intentions and coordinate views.

Lawmaker Park Joo-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party said the government would be forced to overhaul its policies on North Korea in the event Washington begins to regard the North as a nuclear state. Park said given recent remarks by the U.S., it seems that the North indeed has nuclear weapons.

Representative Song Young-sun of the Pro-Park Alliance said Seoul should not reject the idea that the North could have nuclear weapons. Song added that Seoul should inform the public of all the details surrounding the North’s threats and possible motives.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said that although the nuclear status of the North cannot be confirmed without verification, the government is drafting countermeasures under the assumption that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons.