In recent weeks, the world has witnessed what was thought to be virtually impossible. Not only a thawing of tensions between North and South Korea, but what seems to be a rapid move towards opening and rebuilding of diplomatic relations between the two.

Hopefully the region will move towards peace and cooperation.

The initial steps that Kim and Moon have taken are encouraging, and they provide the foundation for a lasting peace on the Peninsula. But they are just initial steps, and many thorny obstacles remain.

There are several possible outcomes to the DPRK nuclear issue.

If the summit with South Korean President Moon opened the door to a denuclearized North Korea, it will be up to President Trump to close the deal on denuclearization. The Panmunjom Declaration is intentionally ambiguous in some regards and any agreement reached at the Trump-Kim summit will be about top down aspirations, rather than a detailed agreement. However, if the summit is successful, there are certain elements we should look for in any agreement, as Troy Stangarone describes.

The road to peace will be long and arduous.

If we’re optimistic about the outcomes from last week’s monumental inter-Korean summit, the positive overtures North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seems to be making bode well for the Korean Peninsula. In anticipation of the upcoming Trump-Kim summit, American negotiators should note that being a bit more cautious with expectations and drawing lessons from past Korean negotiating behavior could lead to lasting change on the peninsula.

On April 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un started to write a potential new chapter in the history of inter-Korean relations. The signing of the Panmunjeom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula has given the Korean people a new reason to be optimistic about the future.

This is the first time Kim Jong-Un, as the top leader of DPRK, has formally announced a nuclear/missile freeze, showing its sincerity to participate in denuclearization talks.

Richard Heydarian, recently returned from a trip to North Korea, argues that the Kim regime has returned to the negotiating table out of a fortuitous combination of greater confidence, mastery of the nuclear cycle, and vulnerability, as sanctions begin to undermine the economic viability of the country.