U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listens to a question during testimony before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill, on July 25. On Wednesday, Pompeo set a goal for complete denuclearization in North Korea by January 2021. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announced he would restart negotiations with North Korea to completely denuclearize the country by January 2021.

The announcement came just after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in Pyongyang to announce they struck a deal to end military hostilities between the two nations and for North Korea to close a missile site and nuclear testing facility.


"On the basis of these important commitments, the United States is prepared to engage immediately in negotiations to transform U.S.-DPRK relations," Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeo went on to say that he will meet with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in New York City next week during the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

In addition, he invited North Korean representatives to meet with U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun in Vienna, Austria, "at the earliest opportunity."

"This will mark the beginning of negotiations to transform U.S.-DPRK relations through the process of rapid denuclearization of North Korea, to be completed by January 2021, as committed by Chairman Kim, and to construct a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula," Pompeo said.