The US State Department has stressed that the United States’ “end goal” regarding North Korea is not a nuclear freeze, but the “complete elimination” of weapons of mass destruction.

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus commented on North Korea’s denuclearization during a news conference on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed at their third summit last month to restart denuclearization talks within two to three weeks.

Ortagus said she did not have any announcements about the schedule for working level talks between the countries’ negotiation teams.

Asked about media reports that the US might reward North Korea for simply freezing its nuclear program, Ortagus said she did not think the US administration has ever characterized a freeze as being the end goal.

NHK has confirmed that the US special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, arrived at Tegel Airport in Berlin on Tuesday.

Biegun is expected to stay in Berlin until Thursday for talks with German government officials.

Ortagus said there is no plan for Biegun to meet with North Korean officials on this trip.