"I'm hopeful that I get a chance to travel again to Pyongyang to continue these negotiations before too long," Pompeo told the cable network MSNBC.

"And then before too long ... I hope the two leaders get together again to continue to make progress on this incredibly important issue for the entire world."

In separate remarks to Fox News, however, Pompeo cautioned there was "still a little bit of work to do left, to make sure that the conditions are right and the two leaders are put in a position where we can make substantial progress."

Trump earlier this month received a letter from North Korea's leader seeking a follow-up meeting after their historic summit in Singapore on June 12. The White House said at the time it was open to such a meeting and that preparatory work had already begun.

Speaking Thursday after a three-day trip to the North, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said Kim had expressed hope for a summit with Trump "at an early date."

Talks on North Korean denuclearization had stalled since the Singapore summit, but new commitments made by Pyongyang at Wednesday's inter-Korean summit appear to have broken the logjam.

Pompeo has since declared Washington ready to "immediately" begin negotiating with Pyongyang, and has invited his North Korean counterpart to meet on the sidelines of next week's United Nations General Assembly in New York.