On June 12th, 2018,... North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in Singapore to four points aimed at improving their historically-strained bilateral relationship.
Given that the Hanoi summit is happening next week, we thought we'd take a look at how much of the deal -- known as the Sentosa Agreement -- had been carried out over the past nine months.
Lee Ji-won reports.
The Sentosa Agreement consists of 4 pillars, from establishing new North Korea-U.S. relations, to Pyeongyang returning the remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War.
Last July, the North returned 55 sets of remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War.
Both Seoul and Washington also ceased or down-sized a number of annual joint-military exercises.
The U.S. also announced a review of its North Korea policy in order to send humanitarian aid to the regime.
But there were no major developments on building their new future, and denuclearizing the peninsula.
The North had dismantled the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and repatriated 3 detained Korean-Americans, but these events took place prior to the Singapore summit in June.
The problem is, going forward, each side feels they'd be giving too much -- such as the North fully disclosing its nuclear program and shipping out fissile materials,... and the U.S. signing a peace treaty or backing off sanctions.
"They both urged the other side to take the steps first. The U.S. called for North Korea's concrete denuclearization, while Pyeongyang demanded Washington's trust-building measures. With neither side budging, there wasn't much progress."
With the 2nd Kim-Trump summit just a few days away, the expert said it is vital to reach an agreement on denuclearization and negotiation, as well as set a system.
"Even if the two actually improved their bilateral ties, they wouldn't be stable as there are no foundations. They need to institutionalize their promises, through ways like setting up a liaison office. Keeping a timeline would also be necessary, to continuously push through their agendas and avoid groundless criticism."
With various reports already saying that setting up a liaison office and the returning of war remains are going to be topics in the agenda at the summit, there are hopes that Hanoi will pave the way for more concrete progress in achieving not only their individual and mutual goals, but also regional peace and stability.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
