The USA position:
The USA’s position is full-for-full: full denuclearization for full sanctions relief. North Korea was willing to trade the dismantling of the main nuclear facility, with international and U.S. oversight, for full and immediate sanctions relief. That is not acceptable, since NK would retain other nuclear facilities.
N. Korea’s rebuttal:
The North Korean spokesman claims that (1) North Korea only asked for partial sanctions relief; (2) the dismantling of their main facility is the most they can offer, based on the current level of trust between the two countries.
On the one hand, he didn’t come back having pledged to remove all sanctions in return for a genuine, no fooling, bag of magic beans – which was what most people were expecting. Imagine if Chamberlain had met Hitler and come back with no deal…
On the other, it’s going to be nauseating to listen to the overpaid Serious people talk about how presidential he was. Could have gotten the same result by staying home.