Story highlights "Military action would certainly be an option," he said

Diplomacy with Pyongyang has failed over the past decades, he said

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump stepped back from the possibility of imminent military action against North Korea on Thursday, saying such an event is neither inevitable nor preferable.

But he continued to present the threat of strikes as an option, if not the most desirable one.

"Each day, new equipment is delivered; new and beautiful equipment, the best in the world -- the best anywhere in the world, by far," he said of US military capacity. "Hopefully, we're not going to have to use it on North Korea."

"Military action would certainly be an option," he added during a White House news conference. "It would be great if something else could be worked out."

Trump's comments come amid increased tensions with North Korea, which conducted its sixth nuclear test over the weekend. Trump refused to say during his news conference on Thursday whether he would accept the country as a nuclear-armed state, insisting that he would not state his negotiating parameters publicly.

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