Washington's intelligence chief has said a US goal of persuading N. Korea to denuclearize is a "lost cause." The State Department and South Korean officials rejected the remark, stressing the policy has not changed.
"The notion of getting the North Koreans to denuclearize is probably a lost cause. They are not going to do that. That is their ticket to survival," Clapper said in remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.
"They are under siege, and they are very paranoid. So the notion of giving up their nuclear capability, whatever it is, is a nonstarter with them," the intel chief added.
The United States has maintained it cannot accept North Korea as a nuclear state. Under President Barack Obama, the US has made any talks with Pyongyang conditional on tangible commitments towards denuclearization.
'Nothing has changed'
Clapper's comments reflected an opinion which is widely held among experts on North Korea. The position though is one which is only expressed in private by senior US administration officials who believe policy changes on North Korea are overdue.
State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters he had not seen Clapper's comments, but stressed that "nothing has changed" in the Obama administration's approach to North Korea.
"We want to continue to see a verifiable denuclearization of the (Korean) peninsula," Kirby said, adding that the US still hopes for a resumption of six-nation aid-for-disarmament negotiations, which stalled since the North pulled out of talks in 2009.
South Korea also emphasized there would be no changes to their hardline position on the North.
"The determination of not only South Korea and the US but of the international community to end North Korea's nuclear program is stronger than ever," a foreign ministry official told news agency AFP.
"We will work with the international community to impose stronger sanctions and pressure on the North so it will have no other choice but to denuclearize," the official said.
Clapper's comments come amid growing concerns that the North is moving closer toward having an operational nuclear-tipped missile that could threaten the US mainland.
North Korea has marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party with a lavish military parade. DW takes a look at what is being described as one of the secretive country's biggest ever celebrations.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Huge celebration
Thousands of goose-stepping soldiers filed through Pyongyang's main Kim Il Sung Square, named after North Korea's founding leader, as the country marked the ruling party's 70th birthday on Saturday. The buildings around the plaza were festooned with red party flags and the national colors of blue, red and white.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Show to remember
Jet planes flew in formation overhead, as cheering crowds below held up colored squares to spell out a giant "70." The carefully choreographed festivities took months of careful planning and a mammoth mobilization of state personnel and resources.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Close friends
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un saluted during the military parade alongside Liu Yunshan (third right), a senior official from China's ruling Communist Party. China was the only country to send a diplomat to attend the 70th anniversary celebration. North Korea is politically isolated in the international community, and China remains an important diplomatic ally and trading partner.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Military might
Kim presided over the parade as troops marched in formation, led first by a corps of soldiers dressed in the style of the revolutionary force that fought Japan during World War II.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M.-E Wong
Weapons on display
Then came columns of tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers and ballistic missiles, in a show aimed to boost patriotism and demonstrate North Korea's military strength. When plans for the grand parade were announced back in February, the ruling party's top decision-making body stressed the importance of "cutting-edge" weaponry.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Dear Leader
Dressed in his customary black suit, Kim Jong Un made a rare speech at the parade, telling the cheering crowds that the country was ready to fight threats posed by the US. "Our revolutionary armed forces are capable of fighting any kind of war provoked by the US and we are ready to protect our people and the blue sky of our motherland," he said.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Powerful dynasty
Kim Jong Un is the third generation in his family's dynasty. His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founded the Workers' Party in 1945 and was later succeeded by Kim's father, Kim Jong Il (above). The original leadership of Kim Il Sung spawned a personality cult in the 1960s that redefined the party "as the party of the leader, and has remained so ever since," North Korea expert Andrei Lankov told AFP.
