U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reaffirmed his commitment to the "final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea, as he left for Pyongyang for nuclear talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. 

Pompeo boarded a plane at Joint Base Andrews just outside of Washington on Thursday on his first trip to Pyongyang since his visit last month to prepare for the historic summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The secretary tweeted en route that he was “looking forward to continuing our work toward the final, fully verified denuclearization” of North Korea, as was agreed to by Kim at the Singapore summit. 

The U.S. had called for the "complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, but recently toned down its rhetoric to "final, fully verified denuclearization". 

Pompeo is set to arrive in Pyongyang Friday and is expected to hold a day and a half of meetings through Saturday. The meetings are set to focus on producing action plans to flesh out a deal reached at the U.S.-North Korea summit on dismantling the North’s nuclear weapons program. 

In particular, he's likely to work to secure a declaration of all of North Korea's nuclear arsenal and the North's assurances regarding a timeline for its denuclearization.

[Photo : YONHAP News]