Washington remains committed to multiparty talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons, despite the launch this month of missiles seen as a direct challenge to Washington and its allies, the US pointman on North Korea said Thursday.
"We are not seeking regime change. We are seeking a change in this regime's behavior," said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.
"We have the regime that we have, and we have to deal with them," Hill said in testimony before the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.
"We don't have the option of walking away from this problem," he said.
At the same time, the diplomat added that "the United States, one way or the other, is not going to accept a North Korea with weapons of mass destruction."
Washington's expressed willingness to resume a dialogue comes after last week's UN Security Council resolution sponsored by Japan and the United States, which imposed sanctions targeting Pyongyang's missile program.
Meanwhile, the chief delegates of Japan and South Korea, which has been reconciling with its communist neighbor, said Thursday they would push North Korea to return to talks during a regional forum in Kuala Lumpur next week.
North Korea has shunned the six-way talks since November to protest US financial sanctions on a Macau bank accused of money laundering on its behalf.
Pyongyang fired seven missiles on July 5, saying it was boosting its defenses against a potential US attack.
