2018 was a historic year in terms of North Korea-U.S. relations.
After 70 years of hostility,... the two sides held a summit of their leaders for the first time.
Things might be quiet at the moment when it comes to their nuclear negotiations, but there were other major developments as well.
Lee Ji-won gives has a wrap up of the events, and where the two sides stand now.
On June 12th, North Korea and the U.S. held the first ever historic summit of their leaders... when Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump met in Singapore.
The leaders agreed on 4 points -- to establish diplomatic relations for North Korea's security guarantee and to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
Some said their joint declaration was vague, but many, like Shin Beom-chul, senior fellow at the Asan Institute, saw great meaning in the summit itself.
"The fact that North Korea and the U.S. moved away from their war of words in 2017 and started to talk is a positive development."
Before and after that summit there were many other signs of progress.
The North Korean leader announced in April that his regime will not conduct nuclear and missile tests.
South Korea and the U.S. suspended a number of joint military exercises. North Korea blew up its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, returned the remains of some 50 American soldiers killed during the Korean War, and released three Korean-Americans it had detained.
But there were some rough patches too.
North Korea criticized some in the Trump administration who continued to push a hardline stance.
At one point, strong rhetoric from the North led President Trump to cancel the summit.
And even though the summit did happen as planned, North Korea and the U.S. have different ideas about how denuclearization should proceed and what the rewards should be for each step along the way.
Right now, talks seem to be at a standstill.
A high-level meeting that was supposed to happen in November was postponed at North Korea's request, supposedly for "scheduling" reasons, but officials reportedly said that Pyeongyang actually wasn't ready.
And despite the U.S. reaching out, reports say the North has given no indication about when those talks should be rescheduled.
"I think the current stalemate is related to the verification of the North's denuclearization. The U.S. wants to talk with the North at a high-level meeting about a thorough declaration and verification process to make sure that there are concrete agreements reached at next year's summit. But it seems Pyeongyang prefers top-down decision making, and wants to first hold the summit early next year."
President Trump and Secretary Pompeo have both expressed hopes of holding the 2nd North Korea-U.S. summit in January or February.
But in order for that to happen, Shin says the two sides must build firm trust in each other,... and come up with an overall roadmap to move forward with a shared understanding.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
