BERLIN (REUTERS) - US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday there was no quid pro quo involved in North Korea's release of Jeffrey Fowle and expressed hope that denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang could start again soon.

Washington said on Tuesday that Fowle was being flown home to his family. The move comes as international pressure mounts on Pyongyang over its human rights record.

Kerry said the U.S. was in contact with the families of the other detained Americans and hoped they would also be released soon. He said the U.S. was prepared to restart denuclearisation talks with North Korea. "We hope that the dynamics can develop in the next weeks, months perhaps where we could get back to talks and the United States is absolutely prepared to do that," he said at a joint news conference in Berlin with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.