2019 will not be the year for a breakthrough with North Korea, yet the Trump administration may still provide the best chance for an agreement between Washington and Pyongyang. This likelihood, however, is fading, and the chances any agreement would have meaningful long-term implications is even more far-fetched unless both sides recognize the needs of their counterparts.

First and foremost, in assessing negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea, we need to stop pretending the dialogues are “denuclearization talks.” Neither Washington nor Pyongyang is limiting its demands to nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons programs, and neither side