U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that U.S. talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) would be "bumpy," but expressed hope there would be several more chances to discuss how to move forward to the country's denuclearization.

In an interview with CBS News, Pompeo said the DPRK's possession of nuclear weapons put it at risk rather than making it safe.

The outcome hinged ultimately on whether DPRK leader Kim Jong Un made the strategic decision to give up his country's nuclear weapons, Pompeo said.

"It's an enormous challenge for that country to make its shift," he said. "It has for an awfully long time told its people that those nuclear weapons were the thing that kept them secure. They now need to shift to the narrative to 'those are the things that put them at risk'."

He said both sides had learned a lot from a second summit between Kim and Trump in Hanoi in February, which broke down without agreement on the denuclearization demanded by the U.S. side and sanctions relief sought by Pyongyang.

Pompeo said that in Hanoi, "There was a lot more nuance to the conversation than just, 'Hey they had a position, we had a position; we walked away'."

"We hope we can build on that... We're very focused on getting the right set of incentives – for both sides – so we can achieve the objective. It's going to be bumpy, it's going to be challenging. I hope that we get several more chances to have serious conversations about how we can move this process forward."

The future of U.S. engagement with the DPRK has appeared to be in limbo since the Vietnam summit, with no sign of direct contact between the two sides, although Pompeo has said they have discussed how to move forward.

On Wednesday, Kim arrived in Vladivostok, Russia, for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With negotiations with Washington stalled, Pyongyang is looking for alternative sources of international support, including from Russia, and for possible relief from sanctions.

In the CBS interview, Pompeo brushed aside a call last week by a DPRK official for him to be replaced in talks by someone more mature, saying it had come from "a mid-level guy."

Pompeo said last week he would remain in charge of the U.S. negotiating team.

China said Wednesday that it wishes the upcoming meeting between Kim and Putin will be successful.

At a regular press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the situation on the Korean Peninsula showed a positive momentum for dialogue and detente, and that China is willing to work with relevant parties including Russia to take phased and synchronized steps with a package plan, continue to push for denuclearization on the Peninsula and advancement of political settlement of the Peninsula issue, and make positive progress.

(Cover: DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L) talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang, DPRK, October 7, 2018. /KCNA Photo via Xinhua)