John Bolton said top U.S. diplomat Mike Pompeo will be discussing that plan with North Korea in the near future. Bolton added that it would be to the North's advantage to cooperate to see sanctions lifted quickly and aid from South Korea and Japan start to flow.

Bolton's remarks on CBS' "Face the Nation" appeared to be the first time the Trump administration had publicly suggested a timeline for North Korea to fulfill the commitment leader Kim Jong Un made at the historic summit with Trump last month for the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula.

Bolton said the administration was well aware of North Korea's track record over the decades in dragging out negotiations with the U.S. to continue weapons development, but reassured Americans that there is a plan in place to make sure North Koreans dismantle their weapons.