A month on, have DPRK, US improved relations?

Added to the absence of a recognized sequence and timetable, Pyongyang and Washington are also divided about the mode of getting along if the relationship is restored.

Pompeo recently suggested that Pyongyang could replicate Hanoi's path to normal relations with Washington. But Zhang Liangui, an expert on Korean studies at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said Pyongyang and Washington will have its own mode of bilateral relations and neither the "Hanoi-style" nor "Libya model" can be applied to the DPRK.

Zhang said what Pyongyang is looking for is a security guarantee rather than a model or an example to follow. "The discussion of the model of getting along actually shows that the negotiations between the two sides have been separated from the core," Zhang said, noting that the crux of the Korean Peninsula issue is Pyongyang's denuclearization, not its development model.

Many experts agree that the DPRK and the US have a huge gap between their expectations as the term "denuclearization" means different things to Washington and Pyongyang.

"From the start, there was a fundamental disconnect in the two side's understanding of the outlines of what had been agreed to in Singapore," said Robert Carlin, a former CIA and State Department analyst.

But he remained optimistic. So far, the Pentagon has suspended this year's joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula, while Pyongyang has halted all missile and nuclear tests.

For now, at least, one thing is sure - both sides want to move forward. Considering the long lasting enmity and distrust between the two, the momentum and spirit from Singapore should be cherished.