The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, made the remarks during a press briefing on Tuesday as he noted that the U.S. is well aware of North Korea's recent announcement on its nuclear weapons.

He said that the U.S. remains unchanged in its desire to open dialogue with the North without preconditions to find a diplomatic way to achieve the verifiable denuclearization of the peninsula.

Criticizing the North's continued rejection of calls for dialogue, the spokesperson said that the U.S. will continue to ensure that it has the appropriate military capabilities and readiness to protect its national security interests and those of its allies.

He said that the recent large-scale joint military exercises would help with the readiness capabilities, while adding that the U.S. has deployed more intelligence capabilities in the region to better detect what North Korea is doing.