US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is "counting on" a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un despite an apparent stalemate in talks between the sides.

(AFP-Yonhap)

Pompeo told National Public Radio in an interview Thursday that there's been "some progress" in efforts to rid the North of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

And while there is still a long way to go, the secretary said he never expected the issue to be easy or resolved "like instant pudding." (Yonhap)