A top White House adviser spoke on the Biden administration’s recent backchannel outreach to North Korea on Monday, saying that diplomacy is a part of the United States’ broader goal to denuclearize North Korea.

Further confirming media reports from earlier this month, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Washington has not directly heard from North Korea through diplomatic channels — despite the fact that the Biden administration has reached out through “multiple” methods since mid-February. 

“We have reached out because we believe that diplomacy has to be part of the process of getting to a denuclearized North Korea. And