North Korea prepared to help achieve denuclearisation: Pompeo

New York [US], April 29 (ANI): United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said that he discussed North Korea's denuclearisation process with its leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to Pyongyang.

During an interview with ABC news, Pompeo said that Kim was "prepared to ... layout a map that would help us achieve" denuclearisation.

This came after the conclusion of the historic inter-Korean summit, where Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-In held bilateral talks.

Pompeo further said that they had an extensive conversation on "the hardest issues that face our two countries."

He continued, "I had a clear mission statement from President Trump. When I left, Kim Jong Un understood the mission exactly as I described it today."

The US, along with Japan, China, North and South Korea, has supported the denuclearisation of the entire Korean peninsula.

Mike Pompeo was sworn-in as the new US Secretary of State on Friday after the dismissal of Rex Tillerson by the Trump administration as the two disagreed on issues such as dealing with North Korea and Iran Nuclear deal.

On Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a group of photographs on her official Twitter account, depicting the meeting of Kim and Pompeo during the "Easter weekend trip".

During a 'Fox & Friends' episode, Trump had revealed that Pompeo was not supposed to meet Kim Jong Un though he eventually did.

On April 21, North Korea had announced to suspend its nuclear and missile tests and shut down a nuclear test site. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI