The following article is a column by Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University and a director at Korea Risk Group, which oversees NK News and NK Pro. 

Earlier this month, a key former special envoy on North Korea wrote an overly optimistic opinion piece with a title that’s worth a good eyebrow raise: “Denuclearization of North Korea is possible.” 

The writer, Ambassador Joseph DeTrani, served as the North Korea mission manager for the office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2006 to 2010 and was a critical part of the Six-Party Talks. 

His stance is no