State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday played down concerns that not engaging North Korea swiftly could lead Pyongyang to take provocative actions to draw the attention of the new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.
"We would be more concerned with the prospect of not closely coordinating with our partners — in this instance, of course, the Republic of Korea and Japan," Price said. The Republic of Korea is the formal name of South Korea.
He made the comments when asked about the possibility of North Korea resorting to nuclear tests or other actions as the Biden administration continues to work on crafting what it calls a "new approach" to the Asian country.