US supports helping North Korean people, but Pyongyang ultimately responsible: State Dept.

WASHINGTON -- The United States supports and is taking steps to help the people of North Korea despite differences with the North Korean regime, a state department spokesperson said Thursday.

Ned Price made the remark as he also called on Pyongyang to put its people before its own interests.

"Even when we have profound differences with a particular regime, and that of course applies in the case of North Korea, we are always looking for ways that we can support the humanitarian needs of a particular people," the spokesperson told a press briefing.

"So with our DPRK sanctions regime, similarly, there are appropriate humanitarian carve-outs to see to it that the robust international and US sanctions that are in place against North Korea don't lead to unnecessary suffering on the part of the North Korean people," Price added.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.

The state department spokesperson insisted that Pyongyang has "at every step" prioritized its own interests over the interests of its own people, citing its missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.

"This, of course, has had consequences for the DPRK regime. Unfortunately, it has also led to consequences for the North Korean people," Price said when asked what measures the US was taking to cut off resources to North Korea's WMD programs.

North Korea has fired some 60 ballistic missiles this year, which, according to some experts, must have cost the impoverished North billions of dollars.

"The onus has to be on the DPRK regime to change course, to put the interests of its people first and to cease with the provocations that have only led to more pressure and, ultimately, more isolation on the part of the DPRK," said Price.