President Trump says a denuclearization deal with the DPRK “is very much in the making,” and the prospect of lifting some sanctions is likely to be part of that. Kim Jong Un will expect some movement from Trump on sanctions, given that the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) counts sanctions as an example of the U.S.’s “hostile policy” towards the DPRK, a policy North Korea insists the U.S. renounce.

This analysis explores four scenarios for how Trump might approach the option of lifting sanctions. The scenarios, each sketched out in a few hundred words