Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed Wednesday there will be a second nuclear summit held between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
"There will be another summit," he said in an interview with CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell. "The location and date have not been set yet, but we're working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right, so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit."
Pompeo said he will travel to Pyongyang soon to continue negotiations in the meantime.
"I don't know when the summit will take place. It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that," he said. "It takes a little while to put these together, and we want to make sure we've got the conditions just right so the two leaders can be successful."
Pompeo said the U.S. has received "very consistent" messages from Kim about his intent to denuclearize.
"He understands the scope of that and what that means," Pompeo said. "He's been very consistent in his commitment to delivering on that promise. We need to find our way forward to achieve that for the world ... These are U.N. Security Council resolutions that are being enforced."
O'Donnell pressed Pompeo on the lack of concrete steps taken by North Korea to denuclearize. At the first summit between Trump and Kim in June, the memorandum signed by both men was criticized as vague, and nuclear watchdogs said North Korea has continued to develop its illicit program in the months since.
"But it's a lot of words at this point. And I know you have been clear; you have set key demands," O'Donnell said. "I mean, has the North declared their stockpile yet? No, right? Have they set a timetable to give up these weapons? No. Have they agreed to inspectors? What steps have they taken to show proof that they are going to denuclearize?"
"I've been pretty consistent," Pompeo said. "I've also been consistent about the other item, which is I'm not going to talk about the conversations, the negotiations each day, the twists and turns. What we're going to do is we're going to continue the good work we have. We're going to make sure there's no more missile tests, no more nuclear tests. We're going to continue to work on getting American remains back. We're going to continue to work towards denuclearization. It will take a while. There will be a process to this. President Trump has been clear about that and clear-eyed about that since the very beginning."
Trump has also been criticized for being overly warm toward Kim in his remarks and writings since their meeting, given the Kim regime's horrific treatment of the North Korean people.
However, his remarks at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday illustrated how much relations between the longtime enemies had improved over the past year. After threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea and labeling Kim "Rocket Man" at the U.N. a year ago, Trump praised North Korea's cessation of missile and nuclear tests and the steps toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.
"Since that meeting, we have already seen a number of encouraging measures that few could have imagined, only a short time ago," Trump said. "The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction."
Last week, Trump championed "very exciting" developments in nuclear talks amid news that North Korea had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors and dismantle its primary nuclear complex, in exchange for corresponding actions by the U.S.:
North Korea has agreed to dismantle its primary nuclear complex and allow international inspectors in the country if the United States takes corresponding actions. South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced the news during a joint press conference on Wednesday with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The two leaders also talked about the possibility of an official end to the Korean War and filing a joint bid to host the 2032 Olympics.
Trump called on global sanctions against North Korea to continue in the meantime on Wednesday as he chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.