Editor’s note: What If? is an NK News series featuring scenarios about North Korea’s future. Articles in this series draw on verified facts and rigorous analysis to explore hypothetical events in the years and decades ahead.

And with the American president’s signature, the deal is done: The Korean War is over. The U.S. relieves unilateral sanctions on North Korea’s weapons programs and endorses the end of the U.N. sanctions regime in return for Kim Jong Un’s firm commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The two sides agree to establish embassies in Washington and Pyongyang.