Two steps back

North Korea talks show the slog of diplomacy

President Donald Trump took the great leap forward with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. They had a big, flashy, historic summit meeting in Singapore last month.

It may have been a game changer. We don’t know yet.

Now comes the long, patient trail of diplomacy.

The meeting earlier this month in Pyongyang between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr. Kim’s negotiators showed, as if the world needed further evidence, that it will not be easy. It ended with North Korea saying that the U.S. made “gangster-like demands.” North Korea reverted to type — bluffing, bullying and distracting.

So far, the U.S. has gained nothing concrete in its negotiations with Mr. Kim. Mr. Kim has not gotten much either.

He got our military exercises suspended for one season. They can be resumed with minor loss of operational readiness. But Mr. Kim also got a meeting on the world stage with Mr. Trump. That might play well as propaganda for the fact-starved people who cower under his thumb, but it doesn’t put a single additional dollar in the North Korean economy.

Mr. Pompeo left North Korea claiming to have achieved progress, while North Korea said the meeting was “regrettable.” So what’s next? The U.S. position is simple. It is that if Mr. Kim wants his country to be integrated with the world and its markets, he needs the United States to drop its sanctions, and that’s not going to happen until North Korea abolishes its nuclear program.

There are three keys to getting there: Pressure on the North Koreans from China. And there has to be a reason for China to exert this pressure. Mr. Kim’s desire for respect and membership in the family of nations. And patient diplomacy by Mr. Pompeo and his team.

There is no question that U.S.North Korean relations have taken two small steps back after their one giant leap. But those relations are still in far better shape than they were a year ago.