Chronologies
Regional Overview
Chronology from Oct 2002 to Dec 2002
: Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announces her decision not to contest the 2004 presidential election.
: PRC launches fourth unmanned Shenzhou IV space capsule in preparation for manned flight.
: U.S. official discusses “tailored containment” of North Korea, drawing ROK protests.
: DPRK demands all international nuclear inspectors depart.
: The Japanese government submits plan to PM Koizumi for an alternate nonreligious memorial for deceased war victims and participants in international peacekeeping missions.
: PM Koizumi announces plans to visit Yasukuni Shrine in 2003, but does not specify a date.
: China releases human rights activist Wu Xenli.
: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld states U.S. is capable of dealing militarily with Iraq and North Korea simultaneously.
: DPRK begins dismantling IAEA monitoring equipment at nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
: Australia announces it is shelving plans to restore full diplomatic links with North Korea until it honors its nuclear obligations.
: Go Yankees! NY signs Matsui (Godzilla) Hideki.
: Japanese abductees agree to make clear statement to Pyongyang that they are willingly staying in Japan to prompt the DPRK to send their families to Japan.
: ROK presidential candidate Roh Moo-hyun of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party is elected, defeating Lee Hoi-chang of the opposition Grand National Party.
: U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee convenes. Secretary Powell and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz meet with Japanese FM Kawaguchi and Japan Defense Agency chief Ishiba in Washington.
: North Korea declares that only a non-aggression pact with Washington can prevent “a catastrophic crisis of a war.”
: Japanese Aegis destroyer Kirishima leaves port in Yokosuka, Japan for deployment in the Indian Ocean. The destroyer and its crew of nearly 250 will carry out surveillance activities and protect Japanese vessels that are providing logistical support for the antiterrorism campaign.
: Secretary Powell states that the U.S. has no plans to attack the DPRK and rejects North Korea’s demands for a nonaggression treaty, insisting that the DPRK fulfill its promises to forego nuclear weapons.
: PACOM Commander Adm. Fargo visits China.
: DPRK announces it will reactivate a nuclear power program that was suspended under the 1994 Agreed Framework in response to the U.S. decision to halt heavy fuel shipments.
: U.S. releases National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction, which threatens use of “all options” in response to WMD attack
: PRC defense white paper released.
: A North Korean ship carrying Scud-type missiles is intercepted by the Spanish Navy and inspected by U.S. officials; ship is subsequently released when it is revealed the missiles are destined for Yemen.
: PRC Gen. Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of the People’s Liberation Army, and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith conducts military-to-military talks at the Pentagon.
: Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visits Japan, Korea, China, and Australia.
: Ma Ying-jeou, mayor of Taipei and member of the opposition Kuomintang, is re-elected with 64 percent of the vote.
: U.S.-ROK Security consultative meeting in Washington.
: PRC and Russia issue joint declaration following Beijing presidential summit urging DPRK to halt its nuclear weapons program and urging both Washington and Pyongyang to stick by the 1994 Agreed Framework.
: DPRK government announces enforced currency swap to halt use of U.S. dollars.
: Australian PM John Howard states that Australia would be prepared to launch a preemptive strike on another country as a measure of last resort to prevent terrorism.
: Indonesia’s human rights court acquits four former security officers (including Lt. Col. Endar Priyanto, former army commander for the East Timor capital Dili) of crimes against humanity in East Timor.
: Indonesia human rights court finds former East Timor militia leader of the Aitarak militia Eurico Guterres guilty of crimes against humanity during East Timor’s 1999 vote on independence and sentences him to 10 years in jail.
: PRC government formally arrests Yang Bin.
: A U.S. Navy destroyer visits Qingdao, China, the first port visit by a U.S. warship to China since the April 2001 EP-3 incident.
: President Bush meets for the seventh time with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersberg, Russia.
: Second U.S. sergeant also acquitted, prompting renewed protests in South Korea.
: U.S. sergeant acquitted by U.S. military tribunal of negligent homicide in June training accident.
: South and North Korea agree to conduct joint land surveys of their border buffer zone as part of a project to reconnect rail and road links.
: A South Korean warship fires two warning shots at a North Korean boat that crossed a disputed maritime border. The North Korean boat quickly retreats.
: KEDO announces decision to halt future shipments of heavy fuel oil to the DPRK unless it takes verifiable steps to dismantle its uranium enrichment program.
: Assistant Secretary Kelly visits Tokyo (for TCOG meeting), Seoul, and Beijing.
: Sixteenth Party Congress in Beijing. President Jiang retires as Communist Party chief; is re-elected head of China’s Central Military Commission. The nine-member standing committee, led by new party chief Hu Jintao, includes Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun, and Luo Gan.
: UN Security Council resolution demands unfettered access for UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
: China finishes blocking the Yangtze River at the Three Gorges Dam.
: The PRC signs “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea” with ASEAN countries plus agreement to establish ASEAN-China free trade zone over the next decade, during ASEAN-China meeting.
: Phnom Penh hosts annual ASEAN summit and ASEAN Plus Three and various Plus One meetings.
: President Kim visits Seattle, Washington en route from APEC meeting, meets with Washington State Gov. Gary Locke and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
: North Korea rejects international demands to end its nuclear weapons program during normalization talks with Japan.
: PM Koizumi holds talks with President Jiang at APEC Leaders’ Meeting.
: Moscow theater siege by Chechen rebels on Oct. 23 ends following rescue effort by elite troops. Over 120 of 800 hostages die of gas poisoning.
: 10th APEC Leaders’ Meeting, Los Cabos, Mexico.
: U.S. President Bush, ROK President Kim Dae-Jung, and Japanese PM Koizumi meet at APEC Leaders’ Meeting and reaffirm their commitment to a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula.
: President Bush and President Jiang meet at Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch for their third summit.
: Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Australian PM John Howard visit Hawaii, meet separately with Commander of U.S. Pacific Command Adm. Thomas Fargo.
: China and the U.S. agree to resume military ties that have been halted since the April 2001 EP-3 “spy plane” incident.
: Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 14th Ministerial Meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico.
: Chinese President Jiang Zemin visits U.S. and Mexico.
: Attorney General John Ashcroft visits Beijing and announces opening of an FBI liaison office in Beijing.
: Under Secretary of State John Bolton meets with Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov in Moscow.
: U.S. Navy agrees to pay nearly $13 million in compensation to the victims of February 2001 collision between a U.S. nuclear submarine and the Japanese fisheries training boat, Ehime Maru.
: The eighth round of North-South Korea Ministerial talks in Pyongyang concludes with an eight-point joint statement, mainly to progress various economic projects.
: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad arrives in Pakistan for talks with Pakistani leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
: South Korean presidential candidates unanimously call on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
: State Department reveals that Assistant Secretary Kelly accused DPRK of pursuing a clandestine uranium enrichment program and Pyongyang acknowledged this program.
: Five Japanese abducted by North Korea arrive in Tokyo, Japan for a planned 12-day visit, but have yet to return.
: Terrorist bombing in Kuta beach, Bali, Indonesia kills 184, injures 132.
: At Seoul press conference, Kelly describes meetings in Pyongyang as “frank” and “useful.” North Korea broadcasts accuse Kelly of being “arrogant” and “high-handed.”
: Yang Bin, chosen by North Korea (DPRK) to administer its special administrative region, is detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of tax evasion.
: Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly visits Pyongyang, North Korea.