The US and North Korean leaders need to establish a foundation of trust after decades of open hostility, and no diplomatic, political or economic relations of any kind.
Susan DiMagio, a member of the US negotiating team with North Korea, and a political analyst and expert has said: "During my negotiations with the North Koreans , senior North Korean officials kept pointing to the Iran nuclear deal."
Trump's decision to withdraw from the JCPOA will certainly diminish America's trustworthiness and prestige, making it much harder to trust the American side, and will certainly affect the negotiations going on at the Singapore summit. Trusting America is certainly going to be risky, and it is something that the North Koreans should certainly ponder -- a cautious approach towards Donald Trump and his administration, is well-advised.
We shall also remember that Donald Trump got the United Nations to impose the toughest sanctions ever on North Korea - the policy of “maximum pressure.”
In Trump, Kim is facing a US president who is determined to make sure the US is not threatened by North Korea, one way or another.
It is also worth noting that the lengthy negotiations which ultimately led to the Singapore summit got underway only after Pyongyang announced that all of mainland United States was in reach of Pyongyang's inter-continental ballistic missiles. Since Kim Jong-Un has all the nuclear and missile aces up his sleeve, he can approach the negotiations in Singapore from a position of authority and strength. Thus, Kim Jong-Un will likely only give up part of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programme, and only in exchange for substantial security and economic concessions from Washington.
