Since the collapse of nuclear talks in Hanoi last week, North Korea experts have argued about what went wrong. Donald Trump should have structured his offer differently, some said, aiming for modest steps toward denuclearization before seeking a grand bargain. Perhaps the administration should have put off the summit with Kim Jong Un, allowing working-level diplomats to make progress that the leaders could ratify later.
A simpler explanation for the summit's failure is more convincing: The United States wants North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and facilities, and Pyongyang doesn't want to do so. The problem is fundamental. Now what?
We've been here before, more or less.