Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed hopes to hold a fresh round of denuclearization talks with North Korea within a "couple of weeks."

Pompeo gave the view as he met on Wednesday with reporters at the State Department who asked him how he will respond to Pyongyang's recent missile tests.

He stressed that President Donald Trump and his administration remain committed to their strategy aiming for the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

When Trump briefly met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, they agreed to resume nuclear talks in mid-July. No progress has been made.

The US maintains it has no problem with the North's launches of short-range missiles and expects to continue dialogue with Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, North Korea has stepped up its opposition against the joint US-South Korea military drills that began on Monday based on a scenario of an emergency striking the Korean Peninsula.

NHK