Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Country brief
Timeline of Events relating to the DPRK Nuclear Issue
- April – June 2008: Following a meeting in Singapore on 8 April, US-DPRK discussions continue on arrangements for verification of a DPRK declaration of its nuclear programs. Sung Kim, Director of the State Department’s Korea desk, visits Pyongyang twice, returning the second time (early May) with over 18,000 pages of technical documents on the DPRK’s plutonium program.
- 24 April 2008: The United States publicly releases material showing the DPRK helped construct a covert nuclear reactor in Syria, which was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in September 2007.
- January – April 2008: United States and other Six-Party members continue efforts to urge the DPRK to provide a complete and correct declaration of its nuclear programs.
- 31 December 2007: The DPRK fails to provide a complete and correct declaration of all nuclear programs by the 31 December 2007 deadline referred to in the 3 October agreement. Disablement of the Yongbyon facilities is also not completed by the deadline, but substantial progress has been made and the delay is ascribed to technical reasons.
- October 2007: Work on disabling the three Yongbyon facilities commences.
- 27-30 September 2007: Six-Party Talks plenary meeting held in Beijing after Working Groups met in August and early September. In an agreement released on 3 October, the DPRK agrees to declare its nuclear programs and disable its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, fuel fabrication plant and reprocessing plant by 31 December 2007.
- 18-20 July 2007: Six-Party Talks Heads of Delegation meet in Beijing and agree Working Groups will consider details of implementation of the next phase of 13 February agreement (the DPRK’s declaration of all nuclear programs and disablement of all nuclear facilities).
- 18 July 2007: Following the resolution of the Banco Delta Asia issue (see below), and the DPRK’s readmission of IAEA inspectors, the IAEA announces that the DPRK’s Yongbyon nuclear facilities had been shut down and seals applied.
- 14 April 2007: The 60-day deadline for the DPRK to implement its 13 February initial phase commitments to shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear facility and readmit IAEA inspectors passes without the DPRK having done so.
- 19-22 March 2007: The six-party talks resume but are suspended due to the DPRK’s refusal to participate, or implement its initial phase commitments under the 13 February statement, until it gains access to frozen funds in the Macau Bank Banco Delta Asia.
- 8-13 February 2007: Third session of the fifth round of six-party talks is held in Beijing. At the end of the talks, the parties agree on a statement on Initial Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement.
- 18 December 2006: Second session of the fifth round of six-party talks is held in Beijing.
- 14 October 2006: UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1718.
- 9 October 2006: DPRK conducts its first nuclear test.
- 3 October 2006: DPRK announces it will conduct a nuclear test for reasons of ‘self-defence’.
- 15 July 2006: UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1695.
- 5 July 2006: DPRK test fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepo -2 which failed soon after launch.
- 6 December 2005: DPRK issues a statement that it will not return to the negotiating table until the US lifts ‘financial sanctions’.
- 9-11 November 2005: First session of the fifth round of six party talks concludes without substantive progress but with an agreement for an early resumption of the fifth round
- 13-19 September 2005: Fourth round of six party talks is held in Beijing, with all six parties endorsing a "Joint Statement of Principles".
- 26 July - 7 August 2005: Fourth round of six-party talks begins, and goes into recess, without agreement on a "statement of principles".
- 9 July 2005: DPRK announces its intention to return to the six-party talks in the week of 25 July.
- 30 June 2005: US and DPRK diplomats, and others from Japan, the ROK, China and Russia, meet in New York at a seminar hosted by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP); DPRK indicates a willingness to return to the six-party talks if the US showed respect.
- 15 May 2005: US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley says on CNN that the US has seen some evidence of DPRK preparations for a nuclear test, that the US has discussed this with allies, and that "action would have to be taken" in the event of a test.
- 13 May 2005: US special envoy on the DPRK Joseph DeTrani meets with DPRK mission in New York to provide assurances that the US recognises the DPRK as a sovereign nation and that the US does not intend to attack the country
- 11 May 2005: The DPRK says it has completed extraction of spent fuel rods from Yongbyon, as part of plans to "increase its nuclear arsenal"
- 1 May 2005: The DPRK fires a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan.
- 31 March 2005: The DPRK declares itself a "fully-fledged nuclear weapons state" and demands that the six-party talks be negotiated on an "equal footing" as "disarmament talks".
- 2 March 2005: The DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a statement that the DPRK is no longer bound by the 1999 self-imposed moratorium on ballistic missile testing and issues an ultimatum for a US apology for the US's 'hostile policy' and US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice's 'outpost of tyranny remarks'.
- 10 February 2005: The DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a statement announcing its indefinite postponement of DPRK participation in the six-party talks and that it had manufactured nuclear weapons.
- 21-23 June 2004: Second working group and 23-26 June third round of six-party talks on the DPRK nuclear issue in Beijing . Proposals are tabled by the US, the ROK and the DPRK for the freezing and dismantling of the DPRK's nuclear programs, but many details - particularly on the scope of dismantlement and verification - remain to be agreed.
- 12-14 May 2004: First working group meeting of the six-party talks.
- 25-28 February 2004: Second round of six-party talks in Beijing, where the 5 parties' emphasise to North Korea their united goal of the complete, irreversible and verifiable dismantlement of the DPRK's nuclear program, but achieve only modest gains.
- 21 November 2003: KEDO Executive Board announces suspension of the construction of two light water nuclear reactors in North Korea.
- 27-29 August 2003: Six-party talks held between the DPRK, the ROK, China, US, Russia and Japan in Beijing. The DPRK warns that it can declare itself a nuclear weapons state and conduct a nuclear weapons test.
- 1 August 2003: The DPRK announces willingness to participate in multilateral six-party talks.
- 1 2 July 2003 The DPRK claims to have reprocessed spent nuclear fuel rods at Yongbyon.
- 10 June 2003: The DPRK announces its intention to develop a nuclear deterrent force.
- 3 June 2003: G8 summit declaration urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
- 23-25 April 2003: Trilateral talks between US, China and the DPRK held in Beijing. The DPRK says that it has nuclear weapons.
- 10 March 2003: The DPRK fires a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan.
- 2 March 2003: The DPRK intercepts a United States reconnaissance plane in international airspace.
- 24 February 2003: The DPRK fires a test-missile into the sea of Japan, hours before new ROK President Roh Moo-hyon is formally sworn into office.
- 20 February 2003: DPRK fighter jet violates ROK airspace.
- 18 February 2003: The DPRK threatens to abandon the 1953 Armistice Agreement.
- 12 February 2003: The International Atomic Energy Agency declares the DPRK in breach of atomic safeguards and refers the case to the UN Security Council.
- 10 January 2003: The DPRK announces intention to withdraw from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
- 22 December 2002: The DPRK removes UN surveillance equipment from its Yongbyon reactor and announces intentions to re-start its nuclear program.
- 14 November 2002: KEDO suspends heavy fuel oil deliveries.
- 16 October 2002: United States announces that the DPRK admitted that it is pursuing a highly enriched uranium program.
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