The following article is an opinion piece by Luana Margarete Geiger, a non-resident fellow at the Taiwan Center for Security Studies. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

A lot has changed since the 2019 summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Hanoi ended in failure. North Korea has withdrawn from talks and ramped up weapons testing to unprecedented levels, while new leadership in Seoul and Washington has emphasized deterrence over talks.

But while it may not look like it, Pyongyang’s desire to normalize relations with the