• President Donald Trump will receive a letter from Kim Jong Un on Friday, and it reportedly offers no concessions and merely asks Trump for a meeting.
• A meeting with Trump would be a huge win for Kim, and insiders say the US and North Korea aren't close to getting a deal, which would make it worth the US's time.
• Now, as the summit approaches and neither side seems any closer to a deal, Kim's letter has put the ball back in Trump's court.

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President Donald Trump will receive a letter from Kim Jong Un on Friday as the world anticipates a historic meeting between the two leaders, but an early read of the letter suggests North Korea will stay firm in its recent demeanor.

Though the US is currently engaged in three separate sets of talks with North Koreans around the globe, it's still unclear if Trump will actually meet Kim.

Kim's letter, to be delivered by Kim Yong Chol, an infamous and sanctioned North Korean official, could have served as an inflection point in the decision making process. But according to Wall Street Journal, it puts the ball back in Trump's court.

The Journal quoted a foreign government source as saying the letter was "fairly basic." It said Kim wanted to meet Trump but didn't make any concessions or threats, as have marked his previous communications.

Meanwhile, the US and North Korea remain miles apart on the goal of the summit and what can be achieved.

"The difference of the position between the North and the US in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is still huge," South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said on Wednesday, as NK News noted. While Cho said an agreement would "not be impossible" to strike during the talks, the run up to the summit has somewhat devolved into a war of the wills over who more wants the summit.

Experts agree that a Kim meeting with Trump would legitimize a pariah nation and grant North Korea a long-term wish. Additionally, if the US grants this wish without getting a good deal in return, it could send both parties back to the brink of nuclear war.

Trump first accepted Kim's offer for a summit in March, without much consultation. But North Korea flipped on the US in May, blasting Trump officials and saying it was reconsidering the summit.

Trump then called the bluff by canceling the summit himself in a letter to Kim, to which North Korea responded with conciliatory statements, saying it would meet the US any time.

But now, as the summit approaches and neither side seems any closer to a deal, Kim's empty letter has put the ball back in Trump's court.