SEOUL, July 2 (CGTN) -- US envoy Sung Kim held talks with officials of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday in the border village of Panmunjom within the demilitarized zone between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK), ROK media reported.

Kim, the US ambassador to the Philippines, met the DPRK's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui for working talks that were believed to be focused on setting the agenda for US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming visit to the DPRK, according to reports in Yonhap News Agency and MBC television.

Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said the US side was "working to see whether they can prepare for high-level talks between Secretary Pompeo and Kim Jong Un and others in Pyongyang that would be a specific denuclearization roadmap or at least significant dismantlement steps that could fill in a roadmap."

Earlier on Thursday, the Financial Times reported that Pompeo plans to travel to the DPRK this week to discuss the country's denuclearization plans, citing four people familiar with his plans.

US officials said Pompeo had canceled a meeting with his Indian counterpart in Washington on July 6 in order to fly to Pyongyang, the newspaper reported.

His visit would mark the first to the DPRK since US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un held their June 12 summit in Singapore.

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Sunday he believed the bulk of (DPRK) weapons programs could be dismantled within a year.

He said that Washington has devised a program to dismantle DPRK's weapons of mass destruction – chemical, biological and nuclear – and ballistic missile programs in a year if there is full cooperation and disclosure from Pyongyang.

Some experts disputed Bolton's optimistic time frame. Siegfried Hecker, a nuclear scientist and Stanford University professor, has predicted it would take around 10 years to dismantle and clean up a substantial part of DPRK’s Yongbyon nuclear site.

Bolton said Pompeo will likely discuss that proposal with DPRK officials soon.