From the outset of his presidential campaign, President Obama made clear he would pursue a different form of diplomatic strategy with countries that had traditionally been regarded as foes of Washington: He was willing to negotiate with them “without preconditions.” And coming after the “axis of evil” years of the George W. Bush administration, that gave hope in some circles that a breakthrough could finally be on the cards between Pyongyang and Washington under Obama’s watch.

But all was not to be: within months of his inauguration, North Korea launched a Taepodong-2 long-range rocket and less than two months later – following sharp criticism from the UN Security