Any remaining illusions about North Korea's commitment to denuclearization should have been shattered by a recent statement from the country's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Pyongyang bluntly declared Dec. 20 that it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States first removes what it calls "the nuclear threat." That threat, argues the North, emanates not just from nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula — of which the only ones are North Korean, by the way — but includes neighboring areas. In other words, North Korea will not give up its nuclear weapons unless the U.S. withdraws its defense guarantees from all of Northeast Asia. That claim is untenable and reveals how empty Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization truly is.

After the Singapore summit in June between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the two men claimed that they had put their two countries' relationship on a new track. Trump even proclaimed that "there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea." That optimism proved unfounded.

Subsequent negotiations foundered. The immediate question was North Korea's readiness to declare its nuclear inventory. Pyongyang refused to provide one, arguing it had already done enough and that the U.S. should first demonstrate its commitment to peace by removing economic sanctions. Believing that those measures had forced Kim to the negotiating table, Washington refused, creating an impasse.