U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to hold talks with North Korean officials “at the earliest possible time” and has expressed his desire to push forward negotiations “at a very fast speed,” South Korea’s foreign minister said on Monday.

Speaking at a news conference marking the first anniversary of her appointment as South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and following a phone call with her U.S. counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha said Pompeo “will sit down with North Korea at the earliest possible time.”

“The State Secretary Pompeo has the will to push ahead with [the negotiation] at a very fast