WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S.&nbsp;and&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korean officials took part in a simulated "table-top" exercise that&nbsp;focused&nbsp;on the possibility of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;using a&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;weapon, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Nuclear-armed&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;launched an unprecedented number of missiles last year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;mainland. On Monday it launched two missiles into the Pacific Ocean.
U.S.&nbsp;and&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korean officials have also warned the&nbsp;North&nbsp;could be preparing for its first test of a&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;device since 2017.
This was the 8th&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;and&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korean deterrence strategy committee&nbsp;table-top&nbsp;exercise, known as DSC TTX, and the first edition since they agreed last year to hold the&nbsp;drills annually.
"Given the DPRK's recent aggressive&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;policy and advancements in&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;capabilities, the (table&nbsp;top) scenario&nbsp;focused&nbsp;on the possibility of the DPRK's use of&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;weapons," a Pentagon statement said, using the acronym of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of&nbsp;Korea.
"The&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;and&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;delegations&nbsp;focused&nbsp;their discussion on Alliance deterrence to maintain peace and stability on the&nbsp;Korean Peninsula and potential options for responding to DPRK&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;weapons use," the statement added, but did not say specifically what scenarios were played out.
Seoul's defense ministry said the allies reaffirmed their readiness for any&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korean&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;threats, and agreed to continue reinforcing intelligence sharing, crisis consultation, joint planning and execution of extended deterrence.
"The&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;side stressed that any use of&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;weapons by&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;against the United States or its allies and friends would be unacceptable&nbsp;and result in an end of its regime," the ministry said in a statement.
After the simulated exercise was carried out at the Pentagon on Wednesday, officials from both countries visited Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia.
"The delegations discussed how best to leverage (South&nbsp;Korea's) non-nuclear&nbsp;capabilities to support&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;deterrence against DPRK&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;threats," the statement added.
Since taking office in May,&nbsp;South&nbsp;Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been pushing to bolster confidence in American extended deterrence - its military capability, especially&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;forces, to deter attacks on its allies - as Pyongyang strives to secure its capacity to strike anywhere in the United States.
In November, Yoon warned of an unprecedented joint response with allies if&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;goes ahead with a&nbsp;nuclear&nbsp;test.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Editing by Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)

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U.S., South Korea stage table-top nuclear drill focused on North Korea