Obama: Little leverage with isolated North Korea

Former President Obama on Sunday said effectively sanctioning and engaging with North Korea can be difficult because the country is so isolated from the rest of the world. 

Speaking in Tokyo at an event sponsored by a Japanese nonprofit group, Obama told the crowd that the U.S. has little leverage with North Korea because it operates away from the rest of the world.

“North Korea is an example of a country that is so far out of the international norms and so disconnected with the rest of the world,” Obama said, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}He acknowledged North Korea is “a real threat,” but cautioned that getting Kim Jong Un’s government to abandon its nuclear program completely will be difficult.

Obama’s comments come as President Trump is gearing up to meet with Kim later this year.

A South Korean official announced earlier this month that Trump had accepted an invitation from Kim to meet by May, and that North Korea had agreed to pause missile launch attempts during discussions.

The White House said the meeting wouldn’t happen “until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea,” but later clarified it “fully expects” the meeting to take place.

The planned meeting comes after months of increased tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Both country’s leaders repeatedly traded insults, while the U.S. also announced new sanctions on North Korea and Pyongyang claimed a successful missile test.