Many eyes have been on how long it would take North Korea to denuclearize... with some senior U.S. officials giving Pyongyang a tight deadline of just one year.
And while Washington's top diplomat Mike Pompeo is set to head to North Korea on Thursday for follow-up nuclear talks..., the U.S. State Department has once again clarified.... that there's NO timeline for North Korea's denuclearization.
Lee Ji-won reports.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be providing North Korea with a denuclearization timeline during his three-day trip to Pyongyang... that's set to start later this week.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday,... State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said she was aware of the timeline given by "some individuals",... but simply said the U.S. government will not be providing one.
This is contrary to the views expressed by National Security Adviser John Bolton during a televised interview last weekend where he said the U.S. aims to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program within twelve months.

In terms of expectations for Pompeo's third visit to Pyongyang, Nauert said they will be continuing talks on following up on the joint statement signed at the June 12th summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore.
She said former nuclear negotiator and the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim had a good series of meetings with his North Korean counterpart in planning Pompeo's visit.
She added the U.S. has been very clear in terms of its expectations,... which remain unchanged from the Singapore summit.
And compared to just last year, Nauert said significant progress has been made.

"We're in a good spot today. The secretary's looking forward to having meetings with his North Korean counterparts and we go into this eyes wide open, but nevertheless we've made a lot of progress in the past year."

While the exact calculations have not yet been done, Nauert said the U.S. delegation will be spending a "good bit" of time in Pyongyang, with at least a day-and-a-half of meetings planned.

Progress with Pyongyang was also reaffirmed by President Trump.
He tweeted on Tuesday that talks with North Korea were "going well",... adding that there have been no rocket launches or nuclear tests for eight months.
While slamming the Democrats and what he calls the "fake news" media for their complaints, Trump said that,... if it weren't for him, the U.S. would now be at war with the North.
The tweet caused a stir at the White House on Tuesday,... with Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being quizzed on whether America's goal had changed from denuclearizing Pyongyang to avoiding war.
Sanders insisted the goal remains the same as it has always been, denuclearization,... adding the U.S. will continue pushing for that... and working closely with North Korea.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.