In the weeks running up to the summit, much has been made about how North Korea's pledges to denuclearise should be taken with a healthy dose of scepticism.

What's more, as Ken E. Gause, author of North Korean House of Cards: Leadership Dynamics in the Kim Jong-un Era, states in National Interest about current thinking on the issue:

"It is hard to envision Kim Jong-un destroying a nuclear program that the regime has given up so much for. This is a program that stretches back to the 1950s. After Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s, North Korea realized that the only assurance against regime change is a viable nuclear deterrent. Chemical weapons, once presumed to serve this role, were ineffective in staving off a vengeful United States. Equities inside the North Korean regime, from the military to the Party, also suggest that Kim Jong-un would face significant opposition to wholesale destruction and dismantling of the program. And once the program is gone, how much can Kim Jong-un trust the United States and the international community to not engage in regime change as they did in Libya and Iraq?"

Yet when the summit had ended, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un emerged from his meeting together with US President Donald Trump, the signed joint document between them stated "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" not once, but twice.

Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the #SingaporeSummit pic.twitter.com/cSubS9RRJj

— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸 (@Scavino45) June 12, 2018

So what happened?

How did we get here?

Perhaps this has to do with Kim seeing the concept of complete denuclearisation as a means of bringing the Americans to the negotiating table.

In a Facebook post on April 21, Ambassador-at-large Bilahari Kausikan stated that if the North Koreans were to strike a deal with the US, it would be with the Trump administration as he does not feel bound in any way by any precedent.

Of course, even the most unconventional president needs political cover and the North Koreans would have to make some sort of gesture to provide that cover.

That gesture turned out to be denuclearisation -- a move that as Bilahari further notes, is not without risk to Kim as the North Korean media were silent on Kim's offer.

Kim must have felt that this was an acceptable risk to take, however, and accordingly, "complete denuclearization" made its debut appearance in a formal document on April 27 -- the Panmunjom Declaration which the current document also references in Point 3.

https://twitter.com/jgriffiths/status/989793959894441984

And the rest is history.

Document is vague

Of course, as Anwita Basu, an analyst at the The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) notes about the Trump-Kim joint document:

“The statement is quite vaguely worded as was expected but has the right phrases such as 'commitment to complete denuclearization' and 'security guarantees' and 'stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula'. Notably, there is no mention of sanctions being eased or indeed any indications on timelines around when the process of denuclearization will begin and so on. It basically tells us that the conversation reiterated pre-summit discussions between Secretary Pompeo and North Korean diplomats. It also means that neither of the leaders went off key from the rehearsed messages and that they are both keen to keep up the momentum of easing tensions in the peninsula.

The fact that there isn't any mention of a "verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" arguably suggests that they are still not on the same page as far as concretely defining this concept. The EIU is still of the opinion that behind closed doors the North Koreans have not agreed to dismantle their nukes but have instead agreed to slowdown the process in exchange for ongoing talks."

Essentially, without a proper timeline or specific details on the proper process, there is little guarantee that North Korea might even take the step towards denuclearisation at all.

What's more, proper denuclearisation is extremely comprehensive and is not just limited to dismantling nukes.

As the New York Times lays out, full denuclearisation comprises of:

• Dismantling and removing nuclear weapons
• Halting uranium enrichment
• Disabling reactors
• Closing nuclear test sites
• Ending H-bomb fuel production
• Allowing international inspectors the freedom to inspect anywhere and everywhere forever
• Destroying biological weapons
• Destroying chemical weapons
• Curbing the missile program

North Korea would have to pretty much give up everything in their arsenal bar conventional forces to be considered properly denuclearised -- a process that could take as long as 15 years.

It remains to be seen that this is what North Korea has in mind when it spoke of "complete denuclearisation".

Even so, in a sign of being mindful about the need for appearances, North Korea invited foreign journalists to their country to witness the demolition of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site on May 24.

Trump also acknowledged Kim's agreement to close "this missile engine testing site" in his press conference after their meeting.

The means to an end

It's worth noting that apart from the US, China is also keen on the denuclearisation of North Korea, which means that North Korea's raising of the concept probably went beyond aiming for a meeting with Trump.

China is North Korea's most important trading partner, and as such, is largely in control of the enforcement of the tough sanctions on North Korea.

Given that North Korea managed to gain from Trump a promise to end joint military exercises with South Korea and the expression of a strong desire for the eventual removal of the 30,000 US troops stationed in South Korea, the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea will be very unlikely in the event Trump changes his mind.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Source: Secretary Pompeo Twitter[/caption]

For these two outcomes align very well with one of China's most treasured goals -- the eventual removal of US troops from its backyard.

If North Korea can get help in rebuilding its economy while keeping its arsenal of nukes, it would be a very desirable outcome for Kim indeed.

But for now, only time will tell how "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula" really fits into Kim's agenda.

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Top image from Amb.Muhamed Sacirbey Twitter