INDEPTH: NORTH KOREA
North Korea timeline
CBC News Online | Updated Oct. 9, 2006
Oct. 9, 2006:
The Communist regime says it tested a nuclear weapon in an underground site. The United States and Japan calls for harsh and immediate sanctions from the UN Security Council.
July 5, 2006:
North Korea conducts a series of seven missile tests. Among them is a test of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile, reportedly capable of reaching Alaska. The missile fails shortly after its launch. All of the other missiles, thought to be short- and medium-range models, splash down in the Sea of Japan. Pyongyang last fired a long-range missile in 1998 when it tested the Taepodong-1.
July 3, 2006:
North Korea threatens the United States with nuclear war if any pre-emptive strikes are launched against it. The Communist party newspaper in Pyongyang says the North Korean people and the military "are now in full preparedness to answer a pre-emptive attack with a relentless annihilating strike and nuclear war with a mighty nuclear deterrent." A White House spokesman describes the threat as "deeply hypothetical."
June 18, 2006:
A representative of U.S. President George W. Bush warns North Korea not to test a long-range ballistic missile that could reach North America.
June 17, 2006:
News reports say North Korea is getting ready to test a Taepodong-2, a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States. Pyongyang denies it is preparing such a test.
Feb. 24, 2006:
The United Nations World Food Program approves food aid for pregnant women and children in North Korea, months after scaling back its aid at the request of the government.
Sept. 19, 2005:
North Korea promises to end nuclear weapons development and rejoin the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a result of the six-nation talks among China, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and the two Koreas.
A day later, North Korea demands that Washington give it a light-water nuclear reactor before it rejoins the treaty.
July 26, 2005:
Nuclear disarmament talks among the Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. begin in Beijing following North Korea's 13-month boycott. To bring North Korea to the table, U.S. leaders assured the Communist country's leaders it has no plans to invade.
June 20, 2005:
The South Korean unification minister indicates that Kim Jong-il would give up North Korea's missiles if the U.S. establishes diplomatic ties with the country. The minister earlier said Kim might return to nuclear disarmament talks if he is treated with respect first.
June 3, 2005:
North Korea responds to recent comments by U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, who called Kim Jong-il "one of the world's most irresponsible leaders." A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman calls Cheney a "bloodthirsty beast" who has drenched various parts of the world in blood.
May 16, 2005:
Officials from the U.S. and Japan warn that North Korea risks an international response if it conducts a nuclear weapons test.
May 1, 2005:
North Korea launches a short-range missile toward Japan, which lands in the Sea of Japan after travelling about 100 kilometres.
April 18, 2005:
The U.S. says it will consider UN sanctions against North Korea if its government refuses to return to talks on its nuclear program.
April 1, 2005:
North Korea says the six-party talks over its nuclear program should be expanded to include the nuclear threat the U.S. poses to the Korean Peninsula.
Feb. 10, 2005:
For the first time in public, North Korea admits it has nuclear weapons. At the same time it pulls out of disarmament talks indefinitely, blaming U.S. hostility. In January, newly-confirmed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had labelled North Korea one of the "outposts of tyranny."
Jan. 24, 2005:
North Korea cuts daily food rations to almost starvation levels. Aid officials say the cut is likely to remain until the middle of the year. They say fluctuations in public food distribution are routine.
Jan. 14, 2005:
North Korea offers to resume talks over nuclear weapons and says it will consider treating the United States as a friend, provided the country does not slander Pyongyang. The announcement comes after a U.S. congressional delegation visits the country.
Jan. 5, 2005:
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun says North Korea sold 10,000 rifles and other weapons to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The group is based in the Philippines and allegedly has ties to al-Qaeda. The newspaper cites Southeast Asian security sources.
Dec. 23, 2004:
Several North Korean asylum-seekers who sought refuge in Canada's embassy in Beijing in September were in a safe third country, Ottawa announces. A total of 44 North Koreans scaled the compound's three-metre, spike-topped wall using makeshift ladders. Earlier in the month, 15 of the asylum-seekers were believed to have been taken to South Korea. Since 2002, hundreds of North Koreans have broken into embassies and consulates in China seeking asylum.
Nov. 26, 2004:
U.S. army deserter Charles Jenkins, who spent decades as a quasi-prisoner in North Korea, is released from custody and reunited with his family in Japan. Jenkins met and married Japanese-born Hitomi Soga shortly after defecting to North Korea in 1965. Soga was one of several Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and '80s to give language lessons to spies. Soga and other abductees were freed by North Korea after meetings with the Japanese in 2002. But the 62-year-old Jenkins stayed behind, fearing U.S. prosecution. After an outpouring of public sympathy, he is allowed to travel to Tokyo for medical reasons. He is tried by the U.S. for desertion but freed after serving a 25-day sentence.
Nov. 19, 2004:
North Korea denies reports that portraits of leader Kim Jong Il are disappearing from public places in the capital, Pyongyang. China's official news agency Xinhua quotes a North Korean Foreign Ministry official as saying the stories were "groundless" and part of an American conspiracy to overthrow the North Korean government.
Nov. 10, 2004:
Japanese and North Korean officials begin talks over the simmering issue of Japanese abductees. In 2000, North Korea admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese in the 1970s and '80s to help train spies. Five were later released. Tokyo disputes Pyongyang's assertion that eight others have since died and two more were never kidnapped.
Nov. 2, 2004:
North Korea says a South Korean patrol boat committed a serious provocation when it fired warning shots at one of its patrol boats. The South Korean military says it fired the shots when patrol boats from the North entered South Korean waters.
Oct. 25, 2004:
South Korea tightens security north of the capital Seoul after finding signs that North Korean agents may have infiltrated the country. Border guards discover a hole in the wire fence along the south side of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries, military officials say.
Sept. 27, 2004:
North Korea's chief delegate to the United Nations General Assembly says the danger of war on the Korean peninsula is growing. Choe Su Hon, North Korea's vice-foreign minister, says U.S. moves to isolate and stifle North Korea are increasing the danger of war.
Sept. 21, 2004:
Seven North Korean refugees arrive in Cambodia, seeking to be resettled in South Korea. Japan's news agency reports they arrived in Cambodia via China and Vietnam. In July more than 460 North Korean refugees were secretly airlifted to South Korea.
Sept. 16, 2004:
North Korea rules out future six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program until South Korea explains its own secret atomic experiments.
Sept. 9, 2004:
Fears of a nuclear explosion are sparked when a satellite spots a mushroom-shaped cloud over North Korea following a large explosion. The incident is reported by a South Korean News agency five days later. North Korea denies the claim, saying it was dynamiting a mountain as part of a large hydroelectric project. It takes foreign officials to the site but confusion remains after South Korean officials later say the cloud may not have been connected to the explosion after all.
July 2004:
Over 450 North Koreans defect to South Korea in a single week. They are eventually transported to a safe third country, which officials do not identify.
July 24, 2004:
North Korea rejects a U.S. call to end its nuclear arms program, saying it wants to see the benefits of the move before it acts. One week earlier U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said Libya's decision to give up nuclear weapons could provide an example for North Korea to follow.
June 22, 2004:
The United States says North Korea must demonstrate its commitment to getting rid of its nuclear programs before it receives any security guarantees or aid. The call comes just ahead of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons.
June 7, 2004:
The United States announces it will cut its troop numbers in South Korea by one-third. The U.S. will withdraw 12,500 troops from the country by the end of 2005, including the previously announced redeployment of about 3,500 troops from South Korea to Iraq.
June 3, 2004:
North Korea and South Korea conclude high-level military talks with an agreement to limit military stand-offs. They also agree on a standard radio system for their navies and to share information on illegal fishing. Hours after the agreement is signed, two North Korean boats briefly cross the Northern Limit Line, returning to the North Korean side when a South Korean navy vessel approaches.
May 22, 2004:
Five men and women, whose Japanese parents North Korea abducted decades ago, are allowed to leave the country to reunite with their families in Japan. The release follows a summit between the leaders of North Korea and Japan.
April 23, 2004:
A massive explosion in a northern town near the Chinese border kills at least 161 people and injures 1,300, causing $350 million worth of property damage. Nearly half of the dead were children killed in their school, which blew apart in the explosion. North Korea does not admit anything has happened in Ryongchon for three days. Aid agencies scramble to get badly needed medical supplies to people suffering from chemical burns, blindness and deafness. Government officials blame the incident on workers who allowed train cars carrying oil and chemicals to touch power lines. The supplies were destined for a large-scale irrigation project.
April 22, 2004:
An electrical cable falls on two train cars carrying dynamite through Ryongchon, a city near the Chinese border, triggering an explosion that kills hundreds and injures thousands. South Korean media originally report that 3,000 died in the explosion. Following the explosion, telephone lines to the region are cut by the government. Hours before the explosion, the private train of President Kim Jong-Il travelled on the same line on his way to China.
Feb. 25, 2004:
Top U.S. and North Korean negotiators meet behind closed doors at China's state guest house in Beijing for one hour at the start of six-nation talks involving delegates from the U.S., North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia and Japan to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The meeting represents the highest official contact between the U.S. and North Korea since the nuclear crisis began 16 months ago. Details of the talks are not released, but Assistant U.S. Secretary of State James Kelly says the U.S. demands a complete elimination of nuclear activities in North Korea while North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, issues a last-minute demand for compensation for shutting down the country's nuclear program.
South Korea says it will offer economic aid to its northern neighbour if North Korea agrees to freeze and eventually dismantle its nuclear weapons facilities.
Feb. 23, 2004:
Canada announces an additional $1 million in food aid to North Korea through the World Food Programme. It is the second $1-million donation this month, bringing Canada's total humanitarian aid to the Asian country to $13.3 million for the fiscal year.
Feb. 9, 2004:
Supply shortages force the World Food Programme to cut off food supplies to North Korea and appeal for international help, saying it can only deliver food to about 100,000 of the 6.5 million people it is trying to feed. Masood Hyder, the UN agency's representative in the country, says he doesn't expect people to die from starvation, but expects increased malnutrition and other health problems.
Jan. 10, 2004:
A five-member U.S. delegation of scientists, academics and government officials make an unofficial trip to a nuclear complex in North Korea, but say little about what they saw. The U.S. delegates, whom North Korean officials say were shown a "nuclear deterrent," were the first foreigners to look inside the Yongbyon facility since UN inspectors were expelled at the end of 2002.
Jan. 6, 2004:
North Korea offers to stop testing and producing nuclear weapons in an effort to resume talks over its nuclear programs. U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, welcomes the news that North Korea will stop operating its nuclear power industry, as the U.S., China, Russian, Japan and the two Koreas try to arrange a new round of negotiations.
Aug. 27, 2003:
Representatives from the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea meet in Beijing to negotiate disputes over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. The talks ended with what was widely considered to be the best possible outcome--an agreement to meet again in the future.
July 18, 2003:
North Korea is called "the most immediate and most serious threat to the nuclear non-proliferation regime" by Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei said he was concerned about the latest reports that Pyongyang is reprocessing fuel rods that were under his agency's safeguards.
June 18, 2003:
North Korea "can never accept the U.S. demand that it scrap its nuclear weapons program first" a commentary in Pyongyang's main state-run newspaper reads. It is the first article in any government-run newspaper to indicate the country has a nuclear weapons program.
April 24, 2003:
U.S. diplomats say North Korea has confirmed it has nuclear weapons and whether it chooses to test, export or use them, will depend largely on U.S. actions.
April 10, 2003:
North Korea's state-run news agency, KCNA, says the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq underscores the need to maintain a strong military deterrent.
April 9, 2003:
The UN Security Council is concerned about North Korea's nuclear program, but does not condemn North Koreans for withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. China and Russia oppose the U.S. request to condemn the nation. The withdrawal takes effect today.
April 1, 2003:
U.S. State Department says North Korea transferred missile technology to Pakistan's key nuclear research firm.
South Korean guard on duty at the DMZ (Photo: Chris Grosskurth, CBC Radio)
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March 25, 2003:
North Korea's state-run newspaper accuses the U.S. of planning an attack on the country and cuts off talks with the U.S. military liaison at the demilitarized zone. The paper says North Korea will increase its national defence power on its own without consulting other nations.
March 22, 2003:
According to UN envoy Maurice Strong, North Korea is preparing for a possible war with the United States because the country is concerned over Washington's intentions after its war on Iraq. "They are watching it very carefully and with deep concern and questioning what this means in terms of the U.S. ultimate intentions toward them," Strong said.
Strong was visiting Pyongyang as part of UN efforts to mediate the North's nuclear crisis with the United States.
March 10, 2003:
North Korea fires a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan.
March 9, 2003:
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an interview that Washington will talk to North Korea eventually. However, Powell reiterates Washington's position that the North Korea situation is a regional issue.
March 7, 2003:
North Korea files a notice of exclusion, which warns ships to stay clear of a particular area, for March 8-11. Washington says it's not overly concerned.
March 2, 2003:
Four North Korean fighter jets intercept a U.S. reconnaissance plane in international airspace. A pentagon spokesman says one of the North Korean jets used its radar in a way that indicated it might attack, but no shots were fired.
Feb. 26, 2003:
The United States says North Korea has reactivated its five-megawatt nuclear reactor at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, 100 km north of Pyongyang.
Feb. 25, 2003:
North Korea fires a test-missile into the sea of Japan, hours before South Korea's new president Roh Moo-hyun is formally sworn into office.
South Korean guard inside the U.N. building. He's standing in front of the table where North and South Korean officials meet periodically to
discuss the DMZ (Photo: Chris Grosskurth, CBC Radio)
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Feb. 24, 2003:
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says the North Korean weapons issue needs a regional solution and calls on China, South Korea, Japan and the United Nations. Only Japan supports the regional approach. China and South Korea favour direct talks between North Korea and Washington.
Feb. 17, 2003:
The (North) Korean People's Army threatens to abandon the 1953 Korean War armistice if the United States continues its military buildup in the region.
Feb. 13, 2003:
A North Korean official tells a French news agency North Korea is capable of striking U.S. targets anywhere in the world and could retaliate if attacked.
Feb. 12, 2003:
The International Atomic Energy Agency declares North Korea in breach of atomic safeguards and refers the case to the UN Security Council.
Feb. 5, 2003:
North Korea's official news agency says the country has reactivated its nuclear power facilities.
Jan. 27, 2003:
A delegation of South Korean special envoys arrive in Pyongyang to talk with North Korea about ways to ease tension over its nuclear weapons program. South Korean officials were disappointed with the results of previous cabinet-level talks, but have since agreed to work toward a peaceful solution to the standoff.
Jan. 10, 2003:
North Korea announces intentions to withdraw from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and warns that any hostilities against it would constitute the declaration of a "Third World War."
Dec. 26, 2002:
The United Nations nuclear watchdog criticizes North Korea for moving ahead with its nuclear program, calling the action an act of "nuclear brinkmanship." South Korean president Kim Dae-jung expresses alarm, saying "We must closely co-operate with the United States, Japan and other friendly countries to prevent the situation from further deteriorating into a crisis."
Dec. 25, 2002:
International Atomic Energy Commission says North Korea is adding fresh fuel to a plutonium-producing reactor. The U.S., which has been trying to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, says the plutonium could be used to produce a nuclear warhead within months. North Korea insists the reactor is being used to generate electricity.
Dec. 22, 2002:
North Korea removes UN surveillance equipment from its Yongbyong reactor and announces intentions to re-start its nuclear program. While North Korea insists the reactor will only be used to produce electricity, the U.S. says it could also be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Oct. 16, 2002:
The White House announces that North Korea has re-started its nuclear weapons program, despite agreeing to scrap it in 1994. The country was also supposed to have allowed inspectors to inspect its nuclear facilities. No inspectors have been allowed entry, and North Korea says the 1994 agreement no longer applies.
Jan. 29, 2002:
In his first state of the union address, U.S. President George W. Bush puts Iraq, Iran and North Korea on notice, warning them against possessing weapons of mass destruction. "The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons," he said, referring to the countries as "an axis of evil."
December 2001:
U.S. President George W. Bush warns North Korea and Iraq they will be held accountable if found developing weapons of mass destruction.
July 2001:
U.S. says North Korea is proceeding with development of long-range missile.
June 2001:
North Korea threatens to re-start its nuclear weapons program if U.S. does not provide compensation for delays in building nuclear power plants.
December 1999:
An international consortium signs a $4.6-billion US contract to build two light water nuclear power plants for North Korea.
September 1999:
North Korea vows to freeze long-range missile tests in order to improve international relations.
May 1999:
Former U.S. defense secretary William Perry makes disarmament proposal to North Korea.
Aug. 1998:
North Korea launches a rocket that flies over Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean. The launch demonstrates North Korea is able to strike Japan.
1994:
North Korea signs agreement with U.S. to halt and eventually scrap its nuclear weapons program. In return, North Korea would get international aid to build two nuclear generating stations.
1993:
North Korea threatens to pull out of NPT, but later relents.
July 1, 1968:
North Korea signs Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
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Population: 22 million
Area: 121,000 square kilometres, about twice the size of Nova Scotia
Borders: China, Russia and South Korea
Languages: Korean
Religion: Mostly Buddhist and Confucianist.
Government: authoritarian socialist; one-man dictatorship
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