Earlier this month, American and North Korean officials gathered in Stockholm for a closely watched round of talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. The State Department’s official readout was upbeat: Over more than eight hours of “good discussions,” negotiators “discussed the importance of more intensive engagement.” The U.S. delegation “previewed a number of new initiatives” and accepted an invitation from Sweden to reconvene in two weeks.

By contrast, North Korea’s interpretation of the meeting sounded like it came from a parallel universe. Kim Myong Gil, Pyongyang’s chief nuclear negotiator, said in remarks after the meeting that he was “very displeased” at “Washington’s failure to abandon its outdated stance and attitude” that North Korea must give up its nuclear weapons. North Korea’s Foreign Ministry later added that “we have no intention to hold such sickening negotiations” without a shift in the “hostile policy” of the United States. ...