An analyst believes whenever there is an easing of tensions between the two Koreas, Washington sends a signal to Seoul to pull back.

The comments came after Pyongyang announced its willingness to participate in Winter Olympics in South Korea; a decision that led to a historic visit to the South by a high-level North Korea delegation, during which an invitation was extended to President Moon Jae-in for a visit to Pyongyang.

“Unfortunately we have seen many ups and downs over the decades including the early years of this century when the two teams also appeared jointly at various events and then very soon thereafter something would happen that would bring the relations to another crisis point. So I think that right now the South Koreans went out of their way to present at least the impression of an improvement because they actually want the agreement of the United States Vice President [Mike] Pence to start talking to the North Koreans without preconditions,” Srdja Trifkovic, the foreign affairs editor of the “Chronicles” Magazine, told Press TV in an interview on Monday.

“Previously, it was the American position that they would not want to talk to the North unless the North was upfront committed to the process of denuclearization. In the long-term that of course will be the sticking point because for [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un to accept publicly any notion of getting rid of the nuclear weapons which form such an important part of both the North Korean defense strategy and the North Korean rhetoric is simply unthinkable,” he added.