Chronologies
US - Korea
Chronology from Jan 2006 to Mar 2006
: U.S. Treasury freezes U.S. assets of a Swiss company allegedly supporting North Korea’s WMD proliferation activities.
: U.S. and South Korea agree to form a joint panel to study South Korea retaining operational command of its armed forces during wartime.
: U.S. and South Korean forces begin annual military excercises – RSOI (Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration) and Foal Eagle.
: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld states that ROK and U.S. generally agree on a transfer of wartime command of ROK forces to the ROK and are discussing a time table.
: FM Ban says North Korea could possibly discuss the counterfeiting issue within the framework of the Six-Party Talks.
: U.S. and South Korea continue SPI talks in Seoul.
: Ambassador Vershbow says there are “plenty of opportunities” to discuss North Korea’s alleged illicit financial activities in the Six-Party Talks.
: The White House releases National Security Strategy of the United States of America that reasserts the administration’s belief in the doctrine of preemption and describes the DPRK as one of the seven “despotic systems.”
: Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak travels to Washington, New York, and Los Angeles, meets Deputy Secretary Zoellick, Sen. Richard Lugar among many others. ROK opinion polls put Mayor Lee as the leading presidential contender.
: North Korea tests two short-range missiles.
: U.S. and North Korean officials meet in New York to discuss U.S. financial sanctions.
: U.S. and South Korea conduct a procedural meeting in Seoul for their upcoming FTA negotiation.
: State Department reports it has “substantial evidence” of North Korean counterfeiting of U.S. currency.
: North Korea claims it is also a victim of counterfeiting.
: U.S. embassy official reveals the U.S. has provided the ROK government physical evidence of DPRK counterfeiting activity.
: South Korea and the U.S. begin Security Policy Initiative (SPI) talks in Guam to discuss further development of the military alliance, including operational wartime control by South Korea.
: In the Quadrennial Defense Review, the U.S. Defense Department calls North Korea a “potentially hostile state.”
: U.S. and ROK announce plans to open FTA talks in May.
: South Korean court orders two U.S. manufacturers of Agent Orange defoliant used during the Vietnam War to compensate 6,800 affected Korean nationals.
: U.S. Treasury team briefs South Korea on alleged North Korean counterfeiting.
: The U.S. and South Korea issue a joint statement, after first Strategic Consultation for Allied Partnership talks, on the “strategic flexibility” of U.S. forces in South Korea.
: U.S., Chinese, and North Korean Six-Party Talks negotiators meet in Beijing; North Korean leader Kim Jong-il meets Chinese President Hu Jintao.
: U.S. Ambassador Vershbow says all South Koreans should be worried about North Korea.
: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il begins visit to China.
: North Korea officially denies U.S. claims of DPRK counterfeiting.
: Last of KEDO workers withdraw from the light-water reactor construction site in Kumho, North Korea.
: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls North Korea a “dangerous regime.”
: North Korea says it will not attend the Six-Party Talks as long as U.S. financial sanctions remain in place.