Even though anticipation in Seoul is mounting as the date of Moon Jae-in's Friday summit with Kim Jong Un gets closer, it seems there will be major limits on the types of concessions that South Korea's leader will able to incentivize his counterpart with.

Without the tacit support of Washington and a way of securing exemptions from recently tightened United Nations Security Council sanctions, South Korea will face major obstacles to being able to reward any potential North Korean interest in denuclearization with economic concessions.