WASHINGTON -- The United States remains committed to coordinating efforts with its allies to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, a state department spokesperson said Wednesday.

Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesperson for the department, also reaffirmed US commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan.

"The United States remains focused on coordinating closely with our allies and partners to address the threats posed by the DPRK which includes advancing our shared objective of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and continuing our ironclad commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan," he said in a telephonic press briefing, referring to South Korea by its official name.

Patel was responding to a question on whether the US may consider normalizing ties with North Korea when and if Pyongyang begins to denuclearize.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol earlier proposed to help "significantly improve" the North Korean economy and launch aid projects for the impoverished country as long as it showed its commitment to denuclearize.

The state department said it fully supports Yoon's initiative to restart dialogue with the North, adding it too remains ready to take "incremental" steps toward denuclearization with the North.

Pyongyang, however, has rejected Yoon's offer as absurd. It has stayed away from denuclearization talks since late 2019. (Yonhap)