The date and venue have been set for the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
But, according to a U.S. expert,... whether a historic handshake takes place in Singapore on June 12th largely depends on what happens behind the scenes in the coming weeks.
Our Oh Soo-young tells us more.
Speaking some 24 hours after his meeting with President Moon Jae-in at the White House,... U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday indicated that his meeting with Kim Jong-un slated for June 12th "may not work out" as planned.
This came after Pyongyang threatened to pull out of the meeting, citing Washington's unilateral demands on denuclearization.
Still, U.S.-based Korea expert Lisa Collins told Arirang News on Thursday that with the right conditions, the summit is likely to go ahead as planned.

"There has been a lot of skepticism in Washington D.C. about whether or not North Korea has really changed its motivation to denuclearize and I think President Moon has sent that message to President Trump and it sounded like after the summit meeting yesterday, President Trump was also hopeful the summit would continue."

Collins says North Korea's recent threats to pull the plug on the summit may be linked to Kim's meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
She says the two leaders are likely to have discussed the lifting of sanctions on the North and raised their shared opposition to the joint military drills between South Korea and the U.S.

"So those two issues may have been something the Chinese pushed the North Koreans pretty hard on and encouraged them to push back on that."

Earlier this week, President Trump called on Beijing to maintain pressure on the North until a deal is made on denuclearization.
To reach such an agreement, the expert says the U.S. and North Korea must see eye-to-eye on what denuclearization means.

"It depends on whether the two sides can narrow down their concept of what denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula means in practice. I think if N. Korea is able to give some important concessions upfront, and the Trump admin feels they are concrete steps that will lead to eventual denuclearization, there will certainly a higher chance they will come to some agreement, if not, a joint statement at their summit."

But the price has to be right.

"The promises about economic aid may not be as effective as President Trump may think they are. North Korea may be thinking more along the lines of security guarantees first and then about economic aid afterward."

In the meantime, Collins says "good negotiations" in the lead-up to the summit will raise the chance of a successful deal, or at least, a joint statement from both sides.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.