Meeting in Singapore last month, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un captured the world's attention and promised to work towards "new relations". Why have mixed messages followed?
North Korea is a misfit power. Despite its new-found confidence as a nuclear-armed country, it remains a weak state preoccupied by its very survival.
July 25.– At the end of a US-NK summit billed as an "epochal event", ambitions were set high.
North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", while the US said it would stop "provocative" war games with South Korea.
Things have since taken a rockier path. Although Pyongyang appears to have begun dismantling a rocket site, there have been reports that it is secretly continuing its weapons programme. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has accused the US of "gangster-like" tactics.
So, why has there been a lack of clear progress?
A misfit power
North Korea's notoriety and ability to capture global headlines may have led to its power being overestimated.
It appears Pyongyang has sought to disguise a position of relative weakness as one of unqualified strength ...
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