Chronologies
US - Korea
Chronology from Oct 2005 to Dec 2005
: Unification Minister Chung resigns and his resignation is accepted Jan. 1, 2006.
: National Assembly approves deployment of South Korean troops to Iraq for one more year by a small margin, but reduces number of forces.
: DPRK official news agency reports North Korea will start to develop and build light-water reactors based on indigenous technology.
: ROK Unification Minister Chung Dong-young travels to Washington, gives a “presidential” speech (Dec. 19) at the National Press Club on “Korea Peace Economics,” and briefs Secretary Rice (Dec. 20) on the recently held inter-Korea talks (Dec.13-16).
: Pyongyang suspends indefinitely Six-Party Talks until U.S. sanctions against the North Korean companies are lifted.
: South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Won-ki condemns Vershbow’s remarks.
: South Korean livestock panel determines it is safe to import American beef and lifts the beef import ban due to mad cow disease.
: North Korea terms Vershbow’s remarks “a provocative declaration of war on our people.”
: U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights Jay Lefkowitz in Seoul attacks North Korea as a “deeply oppressive nation” for human rights violations.
: Ambassador Vershbow calls North Korea a “criminal regime” for engaging in counterfeiting, drug-trafficking, and selling weapons.
: Pyongyang threatens to boycott Six-Party Talks unless the U.S. lifts sanctions issued Oct. 21 on eight North Korean companies for alleged counterfeiting, money laundering, and arms sales.
: North Korea rejects a U.S. proposal for a working-level meeting to provide an explanatory briefing on the legal basis for sanctions.
: North Korea says it will demand compensation for reported canceling of the KEDO project to build light-water reactors.
: KEDO board agrees to terminate light-water reactor project.
: Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon says Korea will notify U.S. of plans to withdraw 1,000 Korean troops from Iraq.
: APEC Leaders Meeting in Busan.
: Meeting in Kyong-ju, Korea, Presidents Roh and Bush pledge to launch a U.S.-Korea strategic dialogue and agree on the need for a new peace regime for the Korean Peninsula.
: The 17th APEC ministerial meetings is held in Busan, Korea.
: State Department says the recent round of Six-Party Talks was “useful.”
: Fifth round of Six-Party Talks held in Beijing.
: U.S. Treasury Department freezes assets in U.S. of eight North Korean entities for supporting WMD proliferation.
: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits Seoul for security consultative meeting.
: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson arrives in Pyongyang for meetings with North Korean officials on nuclear issues.
: New ROK Ambassador to U.S. Lee Tae-shik arrives in Washington.
: Alexander “Sandy” Vershbow confirmed as U.S. ambassador to ROK.