The U.S. continues to “explore and improve” allied military capabilities on the Korean Peninsula, a Department of Defense spokesperson said Monday, while voicing hope that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will “quit threatening his neighbors.”

In a media briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the U.S. will “do what we have to do” to maintain defense readiness alongside efforts to engage the DPRK in dialogue, after North Korea’s rapid series of missile tests in recent weeks.

“As for what he may do next, only Kim Jong Un knows the answer to that,” Kirby said in response to a