North Korea will never give up its nuclear arsenal

In his New Year's speech, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was committed to achieving denuclearization and was ready to meet President Trump again at any time.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: Getty

"Kim Jong-un is in the driver's seat," Clapper told CNN. "He's been able to engage President Trump, play on his ego, write him a love letter on a special occasion, and agree to summits that are just a formality. And all the while, as each day passes, the reality is that North Korea is a nuclear power and that's what they want the world to recognize."

According to the former US Director of National Intelligence, a second US-North Korea summit may not serve any purpose, but it could "reinforce President Trump's thinking that he and the North Korean leader are getting along very well, so I think it will be very difficult to be tough and coercive with the North Korean side".

“They have not done anything toward denuclearization and I believe they never will,” Mr. Clapper added. “And why should they denuclearize and give up all the leverage they have?”

Last year, North Korea did not conduct any ballistic missile or nuclear weapons tests, while Kim Jong-un held a series of historic summits with President Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping.

At the Singapore summit, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim agreed to "work together" toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in exchange for security guarantees from the United States. However, there has been little concrete progress in implementing the agreements reached.