Is North Korea Really Willing to De-nuclearize? Nope.

On Tuesday, after North and South Korean officials engaged in diplomatic talks (importantly, talks initiated by the North), South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office stated, “The North Korean side clearly stated its willingness to de-nuclearize. It made it clear that it would have no reason to keep nuclear weapons if the military threat to the North was eliminated and its security guaranteed.” That’s a seemingly significant about-face from mere months ago, when North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was threatening “thousands-fold” vengeance, “Armageddon” and vowing to annihilate the U.S. down to “the last man on this planet.”

So did Kim just get religion? Not likely.

This is a game the world has seen — and fallen for — too many times. The provoking nation invites the world’s ire and subsequent sanctions, only to then signal a desire to negotiate and willingness to change its provocative ways. Soon it obtains sanctions relief, only to later renege on its promised changes while leveling blame on the other negotiating parties for supposedly failing to uphold their end of the bargain. Kim Jong-un is attempting to play this gambit — the same one both his father and grandfather successfully exploited.

So what is Kim really after here?