Oh my: "A source also noted that North Korea believes Trump made the same promise to Kim Yong Chol, a top North Korean official close to Kim Jong Un, at the White House on June 1"
So, it all makes sense now. Without it being put in writing, Trump gave KJU in Singapore (and possibly KYC) assurances that he'd do an EoW declaration; his advisors disagree. The bill has come due & admin split on paying up.
One piece of the puzzle now is why NK hasn't made this part of its public messaging about the summit (i.e., as the US has kept trumpeting about what was "agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore," so too could DPRK trumpet what was "agreed to by President Trump in Singapore").
The closest we've gotten in this statement, which made clear that Trump has the right idea and his advisors are derailing things:
Some folks are wondering what the big deal is if the Singapore statement pledges a pathway to a peace regime anyway, something that'd follow an EoW declaration/treaty. The issue is the time-bound commitment; Trump reportedly promised this right after Singapore & it hasn't come.
As might be clear by now, timing/sequencing matter tremendously to sustaining any kind of momentum in US-DPRK talks.
