Security guarantees are expected to be a top priority for the DPRK at the summit with the South Korean president as well as during possible talks with the US president. But as our correspondent Joseph Kim reports, the economy could also have some bearing.

This was the turning point. The moment that set up the current diplomatic thaw on the Korean Peninsula. Where Kim Jong Un offered an olive branch to South Korea. But in Kim's New year address, there was another area he focused on. About as many times as Kim Jong Un mentioned his nuclear weapons, Kim also talked about the economy.

PROFESSOR KIM SEOK-HYANG EWHA UNIVERSITY "Leader Kim Jong Un, who is young, is thinking he doesn't want to be like his father and allow the people to fall into poverty. This is definite. Since he came into power he has said this, the public won't have to conserve or die from starvation."

The economy always played second fiddle to the DPRK's nuclear weapons' program, never deemed necessary for the state's survival. But since Kim Jong Un came into power, market reforms were introduced, spawning a private sector, and analysts argue it's the economy that will be important for his legacy.

PROFESSOR YANG MOON-JIN UNIVERSITY OF NORTH KOREAN STUDIES "The reason Kim Jong Un has offered denuclearization, justified by the DPRK's teachings, is because firstly, it legitimizes his statue as a leader of a nation, and secondly, to build an economic power aimed at improving the people's livelihood."

Putting denuclearization on the table could have been a combination of the looming threat of a US military strike, or the results of economic sanctions. Since last year, it's been reported that sanctions have caused exports to decline by as much as 30%.

PROFESSOR KIM SEOK-HYANG EWHA UNIVERSITY "Sanctions made it so that private markets became stagnant. This is a big problem from Kim Jong Un's perspective. Because if the market is affected, public sentiment goes bad and that negative sentiment would be directed towards Kim Jong Un. They'd ask, 'Who cares if you develop nuclear weapons, does that give us food to eat or clothes to wear?'"

JOSEPH KIM PAJU "After Seoul unilaterally shut down the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex, trade between the DPRK and South Korea plunged almost 90%. Some analysts suggest this is why Pyongyang reached out to Seoul, in order to restart inter-Korean exchange but also use South Korea to evade sanctions. But this is also why if Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un do meet, the health of the DPRK's economy could be another critical point to determine how much the US wields as leverage. "

Kim Jong Un's recent moves suggest he wants to be a revered leader. For the first time since he came into power, he made a trip abroad, visiting China. He's also expected to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. And as Kim claims to have nuclear weapons, something his father and grandfather both tried at and both failed to achieve. But experts argue, another requisite to be a revered leader, would be to have a strong economy. But the accession into the global market would require Kim Jong Un to dismantle his nuclear program. Joseph Kim, for CGTN, Paju, South Korea.