In this column, I have been writing for three and a half years mostly about the security issues involving North Korea's nuclear weapons programs ― with disappointment at times and optimism at others.

Before I started writing here, I had eyewitnessed what was transpiring at almost all bilateral and multilateral meetings to which the United States and North Korea were parties. In the past 15 years since 1994, there has been a vicious cycle of confrontation and negotiation between the two protagonists of the nuclear game.

Inasmuch as the fundamental nature of the game remains unchanged with no fixed rules in place, it is hard to avoid repeating myself when writing about the subject. I...