WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis insisted on Thursday that he was not at odds with President Trump over North Korea and asserted that the media had misinterpreted his recent remarks on how to deal with Pyongyang.

Mr. Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that “Talking is not the answer.” His comment followed North Korea’s test launch of an intermediate-range missile over Japanese territory and was a departure from Mr. Trump’s previous assertion in May that he might be willing to meet with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.

Later that day, Mr. Mattis was asked at the start of a meeting with his South Korean counterpart if Mr. Trump’s tweet meant that diplomatic efforts by the United States had come to an end.

“We’re never out of diplomatic solutions,” Mr. Mattis said.

Those comments were widely interpreted as contradicting Mr. Trump’s tweet. But meeting with reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday, Mr. Mattis insisted that the two statements were not, in fact, at odds.