Editor's note:  Gabriela Bernal is a Korean analyst and a Ph.D. student at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, South Korea. The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) does not feel a need to sit down with the United States for the time being, DPRK's first Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui said on July 4. According to her, talks with the U.S. would be nothing more than "a political tool" for Washington, and she is right.

Her comments were made in the wake of Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in and former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton's comments this week hinting at a possibility of another summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump before U.S. elections in November. But Choe made the DPRK's disinterest very clear: "We cannot but be shocked at the story about the summit indifferent to the present situation of the DPRK-U.S. relations."

After two years of summits, diplomacy, letters, phone calls, and negotiations, the U.S. has failed to earn Pyongyang's trust. The problem is, and has been so for a long time, namely, inflexibility on the American side. They expect the DPRK to give up all its nuclear weapons before they can get anything in return. This is simply not rational.

Ever since the Korean War, the DPRK has perceived the U.S. as its greatest enemy. They have spent decades building up their defenses to protect the country against any possible attacks, mainly from the U.S. Knowing this, it is highly delusional for the U.S. side to think they can achieve any progress by making one-sided demands of Pyongyang. It doesn't make sense and has never worked.

For years, the U.S. has approached the "Korea problem" through its maximum pressure strategy by keeping and increasing sanctions against the DPRK, making it difficult for aid organizations to help the DPRK citizens, and not negotiating with good will. The latter has been a feature of practically every U.S. administration to date.

Some might say the Trump presidency has been different, since he was the first sitting American president to meet with a DPRK's leader in person, and on several occasions. Although this was a first step in the right direction, Trump's negotiating team ruined this diplomatic effort through their unreasonable hard-line stance.

Figures like John Bolton made negotiations with the DPRK impossible by continuously advocating a maximum pressure approach and constantly making one-sided demands of Pyongyang. This is why the talks in Hanoi broke down. 

The DPRK had already proved its willingness to cooperate with the U.S. through multiple actions. For example, they agreed to dismantle one of the country's main nuclear facilities, they repatriated prisoners of war (POWs) remains back to the U.S., they released U.S. hostages, they halted all Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and nuclear missile tests, and more.

But what did they U.S. offer? Nothing. Only more demands. This is not the way a negotiation works. In Hanoi, when the U.S. side demanded Pyongyang hand over all of its nuclear weapons up front before receiving sanctions relief, it was only natural that the DPRK side refused such an offer. In fact, it wasn't even an offer, but an order.

After spending so long going back and forth with the U.S., Choe's remarks are not surprising but understandable. "We do not feel any need to sit face to face with the U.S., as it does not consider the DPRK-U.S. dialogue as nothing more than a tool for grappling its political crisis," she said yesterday.

Kim Jong Un has to consider his image at home as well. It doesn't make him look good to continue actively engaging with the U.S. without getting anything in return. On the contrary, this makes him lose face domestically and also negatively affects his credibility on the world stage. By only giving and not receiving anything concrete, the DPRK ends up as the biggest loser.

At this time, the U.S. would be wise to heed Choe's comments and reevaluate its DPRK policy. This is especially relevant if President Trump gets reelected. Whatever said, Trump and Kim already have an established relationship which makes it easier for them to continue this rapport in the future. The main thing for the U.S. leadership to understand is that maintaining the same maximum pressure approach towards Pyongyang is simply not going to work in their favor.

The DPRK has shown its resilience against the sanction's regime for years, proving they can bring in money in other ways. The isolation has also not brought them to their knees, despite what many Western political analysts have predicted for years.

If the U.S. wants the DPRK to denuclearize, they will have to start treating them as equal negotiating partners and start making concessions of their own. This is the only way summits can prove productive, agreements will hold weight, and talks can finally lead to physical evidence of an improved situation on the Korean Peninsula.

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