After more than two years at the forefront of the international agenda, North Korea denuclearization efforts have faded from view, leaving little progress to show for it. Critics say the Trump administration took a flawed approach to the negotiations—and the U.S. trade war with China didn’t help. Meanwhile, North Koreans continue to suffer.
Ending North Korea’s nuclearization efforts moved to the forefront of the international agenda soon after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in 2017, and stayed there for more than two years. But despite a period of improved relations between North and South Korea and two unprecedented face-to-face meetings between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, no clear progress was made toward denuclearizing North Korea. It has now largely faded from view as a priority for the Trump administration.
Trump framed the meetings and his personal relationship with Kim as a promising start to a potential breakthrough, and subsequently claimed that he single-handedly avoided war with North Korea. But critics point to the lack of headway in the failed talks, which they blame on the Trump administration’s flawed approach to the negotiations. For his part, Kim has refused to even begin drawing down the program that is essentially his regime’s only bargaining chip unless the international community drops its sanctions. Hard-liners in Washington, on the other hand, would like to see meaningful steps toward denuclearization before they lift any restrictions.
The trade war between China and the United States did little to help matters, as it created tensions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, one of the few leaders with any leverage over Kim due to North Korea’s economic dependence on China. Meanwhile, South Korea struggled to maintain its earlier diplomatic momentum in thawing relations with Pyongyang, without much to show for its engagement with its northern neighbor. In June, Pyongyang essentially closed the door to any further engagement by very publicly blowing up a building that had served as the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, North Korea, since 2018.
With global sanctions still in place, North Korean citizens continue to suffer. A 2019 report from United Nations human rights officials revealed a population dependent on informal but officially tolerated markets and subjected to constant bribery demands from North Korean officials. The World Food Program has estimated that 10.1 million North Koreans are suffering from food shortages.
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