There will be plenty to gawk at Friday when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks south across the world’s most heavily armed border and stands face-to-face with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Two men who seemed on the verge of war months ago will take a pleasant walk, plant a commemorative tree, inspect an honor guard and belly-up to a lavish banquet.
What’s less clear is whether the rivals can make any progress on the only thing the world really cares about: North Korea’s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons.
The North likely still has work to do before it perfects the finer technological points on its long-range nukes, but there’s little question that it stands on the threshold of becoming what Kim says his nation already is: A nuclear weapons power.
Friday’s summit will be the clearest sign yet of whether it’s possible to peacefully negotiate those weapons away from a country that has spent decades doggedly building its bombs despite crippling sanctions and near-constant international opprobrium.
Expectations are generally low, given that past so-called breakthroughs on North Korea’s weapons have collapsed amid acrimonious charges of cheating and bad faith. Skeptics of engagement have long said that the North often turns to interminable rounds of diplomacy meant to ease the pain of sanctions, give it time to perfect its weapons, and win aid for unfulfilled nuclear promises.