North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who at the time was director of the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA), that he does not wish for his children to live with nuclear weapons all their lives.

Andrew Kim, former head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center, made this remark during a lecture at Stanford University on Friday.

He said that Pompeo's trip to Pyongyang in April 2018 was to confirm the regime's stated willingness to denuclearize conveyed by South Korean envoys who visited the North.

Andrew Kim said that Pompeo specifically asked Kim Jong-un whether he really intends to denuclearize, noting that he also accompanied the trip.

The North Korean leader's answer was that he is a father and a husband and he doesn't want his children to "carry the nuclear weapon in their bag to live through their entire life."

Kim said that during that meeting, Kim Jong-un not only confirmed his intention to denuclearize but strongly emphasized the need to improve the U.S.-North Korea relationship in order to build trust before North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons.