A U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday that the U.S. will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea despite the North's ambition to become a nuclear state.  

Sydney Seiler, national intelligence officer for North Korea at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, presented the assessment in a webinar hosted by the Washington Times. 

Seiler said that the U.S. will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea for three reasons. 

He said it would be abandonment of an ally and a proclamation that the U.S. has given up on its global nonproliferation principles, and it's a signal to other aspirants who are thinking about becoming a nuclear state. 

The intelligence official said in past negotiations on the North's denuclearization, the U.S. had made various offers, but the North rejected them all, indicating it has no intention of going the path of denuclearization. 

However, he added that it does not mean the North doesn't want to seek an exit and that's why the U.S. needs to keep the door open for dialogue with the North.