Chronologies
US - Korea
Chronology from Sep 2014 to Dec 2014
: DPRK media condemns ROK for support of the UNGA resolution condemning DPRK human rights abuses and promising a “high price.”
: Following the overwhelming UNGA vote, UN undersecretary general for political affairs and assistant secretary general for human rights briefs UNSC members on “The Situation in the DPRK” at Australia’s initiation.
: President Obama blames the DPRK for the cyberattacks on Sony Pictures Entertainment and vows “proportional responses.”
: US Trade Representative Michael Froman and South Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick convene the third meeting of the KORUS Joint Committee.
: DPRK media condemns US “mulling” UNSC referral of its leadership to the ICC.
: ROK Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae visits New York and Washington, DC.
: ROK Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation delegation led by Vice Chair Chung Chong-wook visits the US.
: Sony Pictures Entertainment in California fall victim to a cyberattack claiming 11 terabytes of data (including several films), with immediate suspicion of North Korea as the provocateur.
: UNGA Third Committee votes 111-19 for passage of a resolution submitting the COI report to the UNSC and urging UNSC referral of DPRK leadership to the International Criminal Court. DPRK threatens to retaliate with a fourth nuclear test.
: North Korea releases US detainees Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at the conclusion of a two-day visit.
: Sung Kim is named US special representative for North Korea policy and deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan.
: Carnegie Middle East Center and Duyeon Kim release Beyond the Politics of the US-South Korea 123 Agreement.
: US Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks Sydney Seiler arrives in Seoul to participate in the first high-level meeting of the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative (NAPCI). Seiler meets ROK Director General for DPRK Nuclear Affairs Shin Chae-hyun.
: DPRK offers UN Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman the possibility of traveling to North Korea on the sidelines of a UNGA discussion.
: The ROK joins the US in not attending China’s newly launched Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) launch. The ROK joining as a founding member was a matter of contention.
: Mark Lippert sworn in as the new US ambassador to Korea by Secretary Kerry. Lippert departs for Seoul on Oct. 28.
: Defense Secretary Hagel, Defense Minister Han, Secretary of State Kerry and Foreign Minister Yun affirm the US-ROK bilateral relationship and Mutual Defense Treaty in a third ‘2+2” ministerial meeting.
: George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas hosts a discussion with North Korean refuges and private sector and public service leaders on ways to improve the human rights situation in the DPRK.
: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Defense Minister Han Min-koo lead the 46th annual US-ROK Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington, DC.
: North Korea frees US detainee Jeffrey Fowle.
: US and ROK navies conduct their annual Clear Horizon exercise designed to increase interoperability in mine countermeasures operations. Clear Horizon is one of 20 annual bilateral training exercises aimed at strengthening the alliance.
: DPRK Ambassador to the United Nations Jang Il Hun offers a defense of human rights in North Korea at the Council on Foreign Relations.
: US-ROK Defense Industry Consultative Committee (DICC) conducts its 23rd meeting aimed at developing US-ROK industry dialogue in Arlington, VA.
: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reappears in public after a 40-day absence and with cane in hand visits a new residential district for scientists and the State Academy of Sciences Natural Energy Institute.
: The Korea Society hosts a forum on New Dynamics on Korea-China-U.S. Relations in Seoul, featuring former Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and senior Korean, Chinese, and US analysts.
: UN opens dialogue on an EU/Japan-led draft resolution on DPRK human rights violations, calling for referral of Kim Jong Un to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
: Warships from the two Koreas exchange warning shots after a North Korean ship briefly violates the disputed Northern Limit Line in the West (Yellow) Sea.
: Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel and Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear meet ROK Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo in Seoul to discuss bilateral affairs and regional issues.
: North Korea’s Hwang Pyong So and two other officials visit South Korea to attend the closing ceremonies of the 17th Asian Games in Incheon. They also meet South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae and National Security Director Kim Kwan-jin, agreeing to resume high-level North-South dialogue.
: US Special Envoy for Six-Party Talks Sydney Seiler and US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies travel to Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo.
: In a speech at the UN General Assembly, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong states that the DPRK’s nuclear weapons are not a “bargaining chip” and that the Korean nuclear issue will be resolved with termination of the US hostile policy.
: ROK President Park Geun-Hye visits New York for the UN Climate Summit, UNGA Opening, and sideline discussion with NY-based NGO leaders. DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong attends the UNGA opening, the first such gesture in 15 years.
: Secretary of State John Kerry participates in a senior-level discussion with heads of state, UN officials, and NGO leaders calling attention to the ongoing, widespread and systematic human rights violations in the DPRK.
: ROK and US representatives meet in Vienna to discuss the 123 Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement.
: ROK Chief of Office Planning and Coordination Ryu Je-Seung and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Helvey lead the sixth round of the Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) to address OPCON transfer.
: ROK National Security Advisor Kim Kwan-Jin visits Washington and meets counterpart Susan Rice to discuss the Islamic State, missile defense, and OPCON transfer.
: DPRK submits its own report on its human rights situation, decrying “hostile forces” as behind the “false nature” of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) findings.
: DPRK Supreme Court convicts Californian Matthew Todd Miller of “acts hostile to the DPRK while entering the territory of the DPRK under the guise of a tourist” and sentenced him to six years hard labor.
: ROK Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Hwang Joon-kook arrives in Washington for three days of meetings with US Special Representative of the Secretary of State for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies.
: DPRK fires three short-range missiles off its east coast.
: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears at a Pyongyang concert and is not seen again until mid-October.
: US officials vow to “leave no stone unturned” to free three US citizens held by North Korea.
: UN Security Council Reslolution 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee meets to consider the mid-term report of its Panel of Experts, with a recommendation that the DPRK’s strategic rocket fire command and its head be subject to sanctions.