A U.S. official said, "South Korea's nuclear armament public opinion will change the answer if the question is changed."

Regarding the poll that 66% of South Koreans favor nuclear armament, a U.S. State Department official said that if the questioning method is changed, the Korean people's answer will be different.

Alexandra Bell, deputy secretary of state for arms control, deterrence and stability, said at the Korea Society's Korea-U.S. alliance conference on the 22nd local time that 66 percent of South Koreans want to have their own nuclear deterrence, saying they think the poll is framed.Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

Bell said he would get a different answer if asked together that South Korea would have to deal with consequences, including violations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the NPT, if it pursued its own nuclear program.

It is also worth noting that President Yoon Suk Yeol and President Joe Biden have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitments to mutual obligations under the NPT as the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation system.

He also said Seoul and Washington have maintained their continued commitments to the NPT, the basis of the system, and that Yoon has made it clear that he has no intention of developing his own nuclear weapons.

Belle, the State Department representative for the Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group, said it is our job to better coordinate our commitments to expand our discussions with the Korean people to meet the challenges we face using extended deterrence and conventional means.

As for the possibility of a further North Korean nuclear test, the U.S. added that it has prepared for a potential seventh nuclear test site and is only waiting for a political decision.