This April 3, 2024 photo, released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, shows an intermediate-range ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic warhead being fired the previous day. Yonhap

A White House official reiterated the United States' commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of North Korea on Monday, after Pyongyang fired multiple ballistic missiles in its first known launch since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January.

"We're aware of the missile launches and refer you to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's statement," National Security Council Spokesman James Hewitt said in response to a request for comment by Yonhap News Agency. "The U.S. is committed to the complete denuclearization of North Korea."

Earlier in the day, the Indo-Pacific Command released a statement criticizing the North's missile launches.

"The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts," the command said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory, or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation. The U.S. commitments to the defense of the ROK and Japan remain ironclad," it added. ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

The command noted that the U.S. is consulting closely over the launches with South Korea and Japan as well as other regional allies and partners.

The missile launches came as South Korea and the U.S. kicked off their annual Freedom Shield exercise on Monday for an 11-day run. The North has long decried the allies' drills as a rehearsal for an invasion against it. (Yonhap)