Chronologies
US - Korea
Chronology from Oct 2002 to Dec 2002
: Secretary Powell says the U.S. is “looking for ways to communicate with the North Koreans so some sense can prevail,” seemingly making a distinction between talking to as opposed to negotiating with Pyongyang.
: President Kim rejects “tailored containment,” stating that “pressure and isolation have never been successful with Communist countries.”
: U.S. official discusses policy of “tailored containment,” including possible economic sanctions, to force North Korea to give up its nuclear programs.
: President-elect Roh warns the DPRK that Seoul’s position could harden if Pyongyang ignored international concerns over its nuclear weapons program.
: President-elect Roh warns that continued Northern nuclear defiance would negatively affect inter-Korean exchanges.
: Russia calls on North Korea to cooperate with the IAEA.
: President Kim, at special Cabinet meeting, states “we can never go along with North Korea’s nuclear weapons development,” saying standoff should be resolved through dialogue.
: IAEA Director ElBaradei accuses Pyongyang of “nuclear brinkmanship.”
: Secretary Rumsfeld states that the U.S. is capable of dealing militarily with Iraq and North Korea at the same time if necessary.
: IAEA reports that North Korea has begun to reopen its reprocessing plant. Without monitoring devices, it will be impossible to tell if plutonium is being diverted for weapons purposes.
: President-elect Roh meets with President Kim to discuss North Korea.
: Secretary Powell speaks to his counterparts in Britain, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia to emphasize need for “a peaceful resolution,” without yielding to North Korean “blackmail.”
: North Korea begins to physically dismantle IAEA monitoring devices; IAEA inspectors ordered to depart North Korea.
: In his first post-victory speech, President-elect Roh says the ROK-U.S. alliance “must mature and advance in the 21st century.”
: President Bush calls to congratulate President-elect Roh; the two “agreed to work closely together for peace on the Korean Peninsula and strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance.”
: Roh Moo-hyun, the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) candidate, is elected president with 48.9 percent of the vote, defeating Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party (GNP), who won 46.6 percent, and several other candidates.
: DPRK demands compensation for U.S. piracy and “reckless state-sponsored terrorism” over ship seizure.
: South Korean Red Cross officials meet North Korean officials during talks to establish a permanent reunion center for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
: North Korea declares that only a non-aggression pact with Washington can prevent “a catastrophic crisis of a war.”
: North Korea announces plans to immediately reactivate Yongbyon reactor; calls on International Atomic Energy Agency to remove monitoring devices.
: The U.S. military command announces it will surrender Sgt. Kirby to South Korean authorities.
: In Seoul, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ronnie D. Kirby is convicted by South Korea’s Supreme Court of severely injuring a pedestrian in Osan City (south of Seoul) in a motor vehicle accident on July 1, 2001.
: South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-sik, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Evans Revere and 8th U.S. Army Commander Charles Campbell meet and announce agreement to form a committee to review the U.S.-Korea SOFA.
: President Kim meets with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Seoul. Armitage issues apology for the deaths of the teenagers in June and announces the U.S. and South Korea will review the SOFA.
: 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.
: North/South Korea agree to second cross-border road to help build an industrial park in Kaesong, North Korea.
: ROK Defense Minister Lee Jun meets U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Washington. D.C.
: President Kim calls for revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the U.S. military.
: The United Nations Command (UNC) agrees to let Southern tourists cross the DMZ without prior approval, ending a dispute that was delaying cross-border links.
: A DPRK Education Ministry spokesman incites South Koreans to a “sacred war” against the United States over June accident.
: U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard delivers apology from President Bush to the families of South Korean schoolgirls killed by U.S. military vehicle.
: South Korean activists illegally enter U.S. Army base in Uijongbu, north of the capital Seoul, to protest the acquittal of two U.S. soldiers in June 13 accident that killed two South Korean school girls.
: Chung Mong-joon, liberal party candidate and Korean World Cup soccer football chief withdraws his candidacy for the presidency; joins forces with ruling party candidate Roh Moo-hyun.
: South Korean activists throw firebombs into a U.S. military support post, Camp Gray, in southwestern Seoul, in protest of U.S. soldiers’ acquittal.
: A U.S. military court also acquits vehicle driver Sgt. Mark Walker of negligent homicide.
: The North’s Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland (DFRF) calls on South Koreans to join the North and “shatter the nuclear fuss made by the U.S.”
: A U.S. military court acquits U.S. Sgt. Fernando Nino of negligent homicide in the June 13 deaths of two South Korean schoolgirls. Sgt. Nino was the track commander of the vehicle involved in the accident.
: A South Korean warship fires warning shots at a North Korean Navy boat in South Korean waters.
: Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization announces suspension of heavy fuel oil deliveries pending “concrete and credible actions” by DPRK to dismantle uranium enrichment program.
: Secretary Kelly visits Seoul to discuss North Korea nuclear issue.
: Secretary Kelly attends Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group meeting in Tokyo, meets with ROK Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Tae-sik.
: President Kim Dae-jung visits Seattle, meets with Washington State Gov. Gary Locke and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
: North Korea rejects international demands to end its nuclear weapons program on first day of talks aimed at normalizing relations with Japan.
: U.S. President George W. Bush, ROK President Kim Dae-jung, and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro meet prior to the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Los Cabos and reaffirm their commitment to a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula.
: Secretary of State Colin Powell meets South Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong in Los Cabos, Mexico on the sidelines of annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting.
: Secretary Kelly visits Seoul following talks in Beijing on North Korea nuclear issue.
: South Korean presidential candidates unanimously call on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
: State Department reveals that Assistant Secretary Kelly accused North Korea of building a clandestine uranium enrichment facility and North Korea acknowledged this secret nuclear weapons program.
: At Seoul press conference, Kelly describes meetings in Pyongyang as “frank” and “useful.” Meanwhile, North Korea broadcasts accuse Kelly of being “arrogant” and “high-handed” and condemn Bush’s “hard-line policy of hostility.”
: Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs James Kelly visits Pyongyang, North Korea.