Little has happened in relations between Pyongyang and Washington since Joe Biden became U.S. president, but as the U.S. gears up for another election, there have been signs that Washington might be willing to take a new approach.

Earlier this year, Mira Rupp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia at the U.S. National Security Council, said the U.S. is “ready to consider intermediate steps towards denuclearization.” 

The next day, U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Jung Pak made remarkably similar remarks, stating that “interim measures toward denuclearization are also up for consideration.”

Both Rupp-Hooper and Pak professed the U.S.’s unwavering