Chronologies
US - Korea
Chronology from Oct 2010 to Dec 2010
: KCNA says North Korea is ready to launch a “sacred war” against South Korea on the basis of its “nuclear deterrent.”
: South Korea stages massive firing drills involving missiles, artillery, and fighter jets near the border with North Korea.
: North Korea and the US restore their New York dialogue channel.
: Gov. Richardson says North Korea has agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to monitor its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and is willing to negotiate the sale of 12,000 spent nuclear fuel rods. State Department welcomes the news, but adds that it will heed actions, not words regarding the North’s denuclearization.
: South Korea conducts a live-fire drill near Yeonpyeong Island. North Korea does not launch an attack, saying the drill was not worth a response.
: UN Security Council meets in an emergency session, but fails to reach any agreement on ways to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
: Russia expresses its extreme concern over South Korea’s upcoming drills and requests an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. China also expresses its opposition to South Korea’s upcoming drills.
: North Korea warns of ‘catastrophe’ if South Korea conducts live-fire exercises near Yeonpyeong Island.
: North Korea’s Foreign Ministry states that the DPRK “supports all proposals for dialogue including the Six-Party Talks prompted by the desire to prevent a war and realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.”
: South Korea announces that it will hold live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island.
: Chosun Ilbo reports that Kim Jong Il said during a meeting with State Counselor Dai Bingguo that he was willing to consider allowing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections into the DPRK.
: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson visits Pyongyang for an unofficial diplomatic mission at the invitation of DPRK negotiator Kim Gye-gwan.
: Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg leads a delegation to Beijing to discuss Northeast Asian security and developments on the Korean Peninsula.
: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urges North Korea to “unconditionally comply with UN Security Council resolutions” on its nuclear development.
: ROK negotiator Wi Sung-lac visits Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin.
: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov denounces North Korea for shelling Yeonpyeong Island.
: The US and the ROK form the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee, a joint committee to make decisions about the alliance’s nuclear and extended deterrence policies.
: North Korean foreign minister says US and South Korean actions are forcing Pyongyang to strengthen its nuclear deterrent.
: South Korean JCS Chairman Han Min-koo visits Yeonpyeong Island, and claims that the ROK “will completely crush the enemy” if the North attacks again.
: Kim Jong Il meets Chinese State Counselor Dai Bingguo in Pyongyang.
: Chairman of the JCS Adm. Mullen meets with South Korean JCS Chairman Gen. Han Min-koo in Seoul.
: Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, Secretary of State Clinton, and Japanese Foreign Minister Maehara Siji hold a trilateral meeting in Washington to discuss North Korea’s latest provocations and release a joint statement.
: According to the White House, President Obama asks President Hu Jintao “to send a clear message to North Korea that its provocations are unacceptable.”
: President Lee calls for the early ratification of the revised KORUS FTA.
: US and South Korea finalize a supplementary agreement on the KORUS FTA.
: US Senate passes a resolution condemning North Korea for its attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
: The US House of Representatives passes a resolution condemning North Korea for the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
: On the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Kazakhstan, Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Kim agree that the Six-Party Talks should resume only after North Korea takes concrete steps demonstrating its commitment to give up its nuclear programs.
: South Korea and the US hold KORUS FTA talks in Columbia, Maryland.
: President Lee makes his first major address to the nation following the Yeonpyeong Island artillery attack and rejects China’s proposal for convening an emergency meeting of the Six-Party Talks. The US State Department echoes Lee’s rejection.
: South Korea and the US conduct naval exercises off of the west coast of the Korean Peninsula with the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
: China proposes emergency consultations with members of the Six-Party Talks.
: The DPRK accuses the US of creating confrontation between the divided Koreas to increase its military presence in the region.
: Chinese State Counselor Dai Bingguo makes a sudden visit to Seoul to meet President Lee.
: Chairman of the JCS Adm. Mike Mullen urges China to pressure North Korea to refrain from provoking South Korea and to abide by its denuclearization commitments.
: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi expresses Beijing’s concern over the upcoming US-ROK joint exercises in the Yellow Sea.
: President Lee names Kim Kwan-jin as minister of defense.
: US Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Walter Sharp visits Yeonpyeong Island to survey the damage of the artillery attacks.
: North Korea threatens a “shower of fire” in response to the joint US-ROK naval exercises in the Yellow Sea.
: Secretary Clinton reassures the ROK of the US commitment to the alliance.
: South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young resigns.
: North Korea rejects talks with the UNC on the Yeonpyeong artillery shelling.
: The UNC proposes holding general-level military talks with North Korea to discuss the North’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong.
: The State Department urges China to influence North Korea to reduce tensions after the Yeonpyeong attack.
: North Korea fires approximately 100 artillery rounds on and around Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. President Obama denounces North Korea for the attack, consults with President Lee, and agrees that a first response will be to hold joint military exercises.
: Special Envoy Bosworth travels to Beijing to meet his counterparts over the DPRK’s uranium enrichment facility and the possibility of the resuming the Six-Party Talks.
: The ROK Defense Ministry and Blue House rule out redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
: Defense Secretary Gates denounces North Korea for violating UN resolutions with its uranium enrichment facility.
: Special Envoy Bosworth meets Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and ROK negotiator Wi Sung-lac in Seoul. He also meets his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo to discuss the most recent revelations regarding the DPRK uranium enrichment facility.
: According to Yonhap, South Korea expresses “very grave” concern following a news report that North Korea has an operational uranium enrichment plant.
: US Special Envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth travels to Seoul to discuss the resumption of the Six-Party Talks with South Korean counterparts.
: According to Chosun Ilbo, Defense Secretary Gates says that North Korea’s new uranium enrichment plant gives the North the potential to build more nuclear bombs.
: Chairman of the JCS Adm. Mullen denounces the DPRK for seeking a uranium-based nuclear program in violation of its agreement to denuclearize.
: The New York Times reports that Siegfried Hecker was shown a highly sophisticated uranium enrichment facility during his recent visit to North Korea.
: According to Yonhap, the US Treasury Department blacklists two more North Korean firms managing slush funds for the North Korean leadership and other economic activities banned under UN resolutions and US domestic laws.
: South Korean Six-Party Talks negotiator Wi Sung-lac meets his Japanese counterpart Akitaka Saiki in Tokyo.
: Presidents Obama and Lee meet on the sidelines of the G20 in Seoul to discuss the KORUS FTA, North Korea, and resumption of the Six-Party Talks. They announce that they were unable to reach on the KORUS FTA and that negotiations will continue.
: A report by UN experts charging North Korea with supplying nuclear technology to Syria, Iran, and Myanmar, which had been blocked by China for six months, is submitted to the UN Security Council for consideration.
: US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Adm. Mike Mullen reiterates the US pledge to send an aircraft carrier into the Yellow Sea for joint drills with the ROK in the near future, despite objections from China.
: USTR Kirk and ROK Trade Minister Kim meet to address pending issues regarding the KORUS FTA.
: In a New York Times Op-ed, President Obama states, “President Lee Myung-bak and I will work to complete a trade pact that could be worth tens of billions of dollars in increased exports and thousands of jobs for American workers.”
: Assistant USTR for Korea, Japan, and APEC Affairs Wendy Cutler and Korean Deputy Minister for Trade Choi Seok-young hold working-level discussions on the KORUS FTA in Seoul.
: The UNC announces that it will begin an on-site investigation into the exchange of gunfire between the two Koreas at the border.
: South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan meets separately with Secretary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Hanoi.
: President Lee Myung-bak and Secretary Clinton meet in Hanoi on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.
: North Korea fires two rounds toward South Korea and South Korean troops immediately return fire.
: In a speech given in Honolulu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refers to the US-Korea alliance as a “lynchpin” of peace and security in the region.
: The United Nations Command (UNC) and the Korean People’s Army hold a 90-minute colonel-level meeting in Panmunjom regarding the Cheonan incident.
: US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon meet in San Francisco in an effort to finalize details of the KORUS FTA.
: The Pentagon announces it will postpone planned joint naval drills in the Yellow Sea with the ROK, but adds that China had nothing to do with the decision.
: South Korea and the US begin formal talks on renewing their civilian nuclear agreement, which is set to expire in 2014.
: US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Robert King calls on Pyongyang to improve human rights conditions for the betterment of bilateral ties.
: South Korean parliamentarians and members of the US Congress send letters to their respective presidents asking for “meaningful changes” to the pending KORUS FTA.
: North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) announces that Pyongyang is ready to follow through on a September 2005 agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
: US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley announces that the US will not lift sanctions on North Korea to lure it back to the Six-Party Talks.
: North Korea strongly criticizes the PSI maritime exercise hosted by Seoul.
: South Korea hosts a multinational Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) maritime exercise off of the coast of Pusan.
: North Korea’s lead Six-Party Talks negotiator Kim Gye-Gwan meets Chinese Vice Foreign Minister and chief negotiator at the Six-Party Talks Wu Dawei in Beijing.
: Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister and chief Russian negotiator at the Six-Party Talks Alexei Borodavkin travels to Seoul to meet Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s lead negotiator for Six-Party Talks, and Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan.
: North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop dies at his home in Seoul of an apparent heart attack at the age of 87.
: South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young meets Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Washington for an annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM).
: Secretary Campbell visits Seoul for talks on a wide range of issues.
: US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell visits Tokyo to discuss strategies to deal with North Korea.
: US Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) Leon Panetta makes a surprise visit to Seoul to discuss North Korean succession with President Lee Myung-bak.