Both pressure and diplomatic options are on the table for dealing with North Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, hours after a senior North Korean diplomat rejected any talks until Washington changed its policies.

Blinken told a joint briefing with South Korean officials in Seoul that the administration of President Joe Biden would complete its review of North Korea policy in the next few weeks in close consultation with its allies.

“President Biden plans to complete a North Korea policy review in the weeks ahead in close cooperation and consultation with the Republic of Korea, with Japan and with other key partners, including resuming pressure options and the potential for future diplomacy,” Blinken said.

He declined to elaborate when asked what approach the United States would take after the review.

But when asked at a separate online roundtable with Korean journalists if Biden would meet Kim, Blinken said Washington is exploring how to convince North Korea to make progress on denuclearisation by considering both “different kinds of pressure points” and diplomacy.

“In a sense, everything is on the table. We have a very open mind about it,” he said.

The comments came hours after North Korean official Choe Son Hui called the Biden administration’s attempts to contact Pyongyang a “cheap trick”, in Pyongyang’s first public statement on the matter.

Blinken was making his first visit to South Korea as secretary of state, alongside U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

They issued a joint statement with their South Korean counterparts, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister Suh Wook, vowing to work together on regional issues from climate change and the coronavirus pandemic to trade and North Korea.

“The ministers and secretaries emphasised that North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile issues are a priority for the alliance, and reaffirmed a shared commitment to address and resolve these issues,” they said in the statement.