White House "Hegseth doesn't accept North Korea's nuclear weapons state"

The White House says U.S. policy has not changed in relation to the Trump second-term administration's defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, describing North Korea as a "nuclear power."

John Kirby, national security communications adviser at the National Security Council, responded to a briefing at the foreign affairs center in Washington, D.C., on the 14th local time when asked about Hagess's position on his remarks.

Kirby said he could not talk about the position of the incoming administration's security team, but that the Biden administration did not go as far as acknowledging it, reaffirming Washington's position that it does not officially recognize North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons.

In a written document submitted to the Senate confirmation hearing on the 14th local time, candidate Hegseth described North Korea as a "nuclear power" and stressed that the North Korean nuclear threat is a global threat as well as the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific.

Kirby said the Biden administration focused on talking to Kim Jong-un without preconditions, but North Korea was not willing to do so, adding that the U.S. has been strengthening intelligence and military capabilities on and off the Korean Peninsula amid North Korea's continued provocations.

He also said he is closely monitoring the possibility of North Korea's additional provocations before and after Trump's inauguration on the 20th, and pointed out that Kim Jong-un has continued to strive to develop ballistic missile technology capabilities along with missile launches.