Hard choices for US, NKorea at high-stakes summit

After a burst of hectic diplomacy, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's nuclear summit is on course to go ahead -- but if it is to live up to the hype, both sides will need to make difficult concessions.

In what would be the first breakthrough in the fraught process, North Korea and the United States may sign a peace deal that could pave the way for a cautious thaw in ties. "Can you believe that we're talking about the ending of the Korean War?" Trump asked rhetorically, marveling at his own diplomatic audacity.

The two countries have been technically at war for decades, even if their conflict was frozen by an armistice 65 years ago.

But what Washington is really seeking is the North's nuclear disarmament. Pyongyang, however, has long insisted on becoming a respected nuclear state and -- while it may have suspended nuclear and missile tests -- surrendering its bombs is off the table.

So how can the circle be squared? How can the two parties arrive at what Washington says must be the "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization of the Korean peninsula? Many are skeptical.

"We'll know right away if it's a failure," Center for Strategic and International Studies analyst Boris Toucas told AFP.

"For example, if Kim won't give written guarantees on denuclearization or if there's just a declaration of good intent without a roadmap." The summit would be a challenge for the most seasoned diplomats and just last year neophyte statesman Trump was mocking Kim as
"Little Rocket Man," while the young autocrat sneered at the "mentally deranged dotard."
"Then you would require to have that, in effect, a peace treaty negotiation. And then, of course, along with that you need diplomatic normalization. So you can see it's a long drawn out process."
But what must Kim give up in return?