The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it remains ready to engage in "constructive" talks with North Korea. 

A department spokesperson told Seoul-based Yonhap News that Washington remains ready to engage in constructive discussions with North Korea to make progress simultaneously and in parallel towards fulfilling commitments made at the Singapore summit last year.

Such goals include transforming U.S.-North Korea relations, building lasting peace and complete denuclearization.

The spokesperson added that the U.S. continues to invite its counterparts to negotiations. 

The spokesperson made the comments in response to a Yonhap inquiry regarding a statement issued by a senior official at North Korea's Foreign Ministry earlier on Thursday. 

The official demanded the U.S. remove Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from nuclear talks and come up with a proper counterproposal for their negotiations. 

The official warned that it would be difficult to improve bilateral relations and denuclearize the Korean peninsula as long as American politics are dominated by policymakers who have an "inveterate antagonism" towards the North.

The ministry made similar calls in April when Pompeo, speaking at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing, said he agreed with the description of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a "tyrant."

The top U.S. diplomat will accompany U.S. President Donald Trump to Seoul this weekend and is expected to discuss a range of North Korea-related issues.

[Photo : YONHAP News]