The top US envoy to South Korea on Thursday stressed the importance of diplomacy in resolving heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, highlighted by Pyongyang's failed yet defiant launch of a space rocket this week.

"As we prosper, we'll also consider and confront the destabilizing actions of reckless states like North Korea. We still believe that diplomacy is the only viable way to achieve a safe and stable Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons," US Ambassador Philip Goldberg said during a session at the annual Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity held on the country's southern island of Jeju.

During the session on the Seoul-Washington alliance, Goldberg said the bilateral partnership "ensures peace in the region and cooperation with like-minded partners in the international community."

He stressed the importance of the allies' work in deterring potential aggression from the North, "particularly the threat or use of weapons of mass destruction."

Goldberg added that the Washington Declaration, signed recently by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden, confirms America's efforts to "protect peace and ensure security in the Korean Peninsula."

The envoy also said that the ironclad alliance between Seoul and Washington "consistently delivers on positive results for both of our nations and for our allies across the globe." (Yonhap)