The U.S. State Department has denied that Washington has softened its approach toward North Korea's denuclearization, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads to Pyongyang hoping to produce a roadmap for its nuclear disarmament. 

Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, who is accompanying Pompeo on the trip, told reporters en route Thursday that Washington's policy toward North Korea has not changed. 

She dismissed speculation that the U.S. has eased its demand for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, or CVID, saying that "nothing could be further from the truth." 

The speculation emerged after the State Department started defining its goal as the "final, fully verified denuclearization" of the North instead of CVID. 

Nauert added that the U.S. is committed to a denuclearized North Korea and Secretary Pompeo looks forward to continuing his consultations with North Korean officials to follow up on the commitments made at the Singapore summit. 

[Photo : ]