A senior Pentagon official assessed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seemingly wants to go a different way, after the U.S. expressed willingness to to resume dialogue without preconditions.

Speaking to Fox News Sunday, Defense Department Press Secretary John Kirby said the Joe Biden administration is laser focused on the challenges to the Korean Peninsula coming out of Pyongyang.

This was in response to a question about the North's latest series of armed protests in the new year in violation of United Nations Security Council(UNSC) resolutions.

Condemning the North's latest intermediate-range ballistic missile launch over the weekend, the spokesperson said the U.S. is in close coordination and consultation with allies and partners in the region, including South Korea and Japan.

While reiterating Washington's commitment toward diplomatic talks on Pyongyang's denuclearization, Kirby also said the U.S. will make sure to be militarily prepared on the peninsula and in the region.

[Photo : KBS News]