WASHINGTON: Attempts by President Joe Biden’s administration to reach out to North Korea have so far been met with silence, a senior US official said Monday.

“We reached out to the North Korean government through several channels starting in mid-February, including in New York. To date, we have not received any response from Pyongyang,” the administration official said, asking not to be identified.

The official said Washington was hoping to make contact with Pyongyang “to reduce the risks of escalation” in their tense standoff across the divided Korean peninsula.