US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Japan and South Korea has provided a chance to hear from the allies about their interests and approaches to North Korea, which will help boost the chance of success in denuclearizing the North, a senior US official said Thursday.

Marc Knapper, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, said the US remains realistic but will strive for success in ridding North Korea of its nuclear ambitions.

"One of our goals is to try and increase the chance of success," the US diplomat said in a virtual press conference organized by the Foreign Press Center in Washington, citing "these very close, ongoing consultations with our allies" as a way to increase the chance of success.

His remark follows a four-day trip by the top US diplomat to Tokyo and Seoul this week. Blinken left Seoul late Thursday (local time) for Alaska, where he is set to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi.

"The goal here, then as now and of course on the occasion of this visit, is to hear from our allies, to hear what they believe or should be our priorities, what they believe should be our goals and then desirable end states with regards to our North Korea policy," Knapper said.

"And certainly we hope that by factoring in interests and concerns and views of our allies, we can create a policy that has a greater chance of succeeding," he added.

The US is undertaking a comprehensive review of its North Korea policy that Blinken earlier said will lead to a new US approach toward North Korea.

Blinken's trip to Asia also came after revelations that the US attempted to reach out to the North on "multiple attempts," but Pyongyang did not respond to US overtures.

On Thursday, the North confirmed the US attempts but said it will continue to ignore the US unless Washington first gives up its hostile policies toward the North.

Knapper, as did Blinken, stressed the importance of completing the US policy review through close consultations with US allies.

"Secretary Blinken got virtually the same question yesterday here in Seoul, and I think his response says it all -- that this moment, we are here and listening closely to what our allies have to say, our allies in Seoul and Tokyo. That's the message we are really focused on at this moment as we continue with our DPRK or North Korea policy review," he said when asked for a response to the message from North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui.

Knapper also said he had to remain "cautious" when asked if the US plans to continue reaching out to North Korea for dialogue.

"I think I will just leave it there where the review is ongoing," he said. "And once we wrap it up, I think, then we'll know more, the public will know more about how we intend to proceed." (Yonhap)