In this Feb. 2, 2018, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with North Korean defectors where he talked with reporters about allowing the release of a secret memo on the FBI's role in the Russia inquiry. AP-Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul, Yi Whan-woo

Despite North Korea's decision to launch what appeared to be short-range missiles into the sea off its eastern coast on the weekend, officials in the United States and political analysts have ruled out the possibility that this could end Washington's joint diplomatic efforts to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.

Cheong Wa Dae said Monday that it had no new information on the North's provocative action, such as the launch method or exact type of missiles used; while the U.S. is apparently reacting to the firing in a "thoughtful manner."

Early Monday (KST), U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the launches "didn't present a threat to the United States" and its allies, nor will it derail the Trump administration's attempts to reach a denuclearization deal.

"We still believe there is a path forward where Chairman Kim can denuclearize without resort to anything beyond diplomacy," Pompeo said. He added the missiles were short-range and therefore didn't violate the agreed-upon moratorium on launches. The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator added the moratorium only concerned intercontinental missiles.

"At no point was there every any international boundary crossed. They landed in the water east of North Korea and didn't present a threat to the United States or to South Korea or Japan. We still believe that there's an opportunity to get a negotiated outcome where we get fully verified denuclearization," Pomepo said on ABC's This Week.