Chronologies
US - Korea
Chronology from Sep 2016 to Dec 2016
: US-ROK Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group meets, underscoring America’s “ironclad an unwavering commitment” to ROK defense.
: US hosts US-ROK-Japan Experts meeting on Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructure addressing malicious cyber activity and coordinated responses.
: South Korea’s National Assembly votes to impeach President Park Geun-hye.
: UN Security Council holds a session on DPRK human rights abuses, which is dismissed by China as not a “forum for discussing human rights issues, still less for the politicization of such issues.”
: North Korea “categorically rejects” heightened sanctions and the latest UNSC resolution.
: UN Security Council Resolution 2321 is adopted. It aims at tougher sanctions to punish North Korea for its September nuclear test.
: United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks announces THAAD deployment within 8-10 months.
: Deputy Secretary Blinken visits South Korea to discuss strategies to deal with North Korea.
: US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Japan for fifth round of deputy-level US-Japan-South Korea trilateral consultations.
: DPRK sends a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemning the “forced adoption of anti-DPRK” sanctions.
: North Korea fails again to launch an intermediate range Musudan missile.
: South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Defense Minister Han visit Washington and meet Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter for the fourth US-ROK 2+2 meeting. They agree to establish an “Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group,” which is described as a US commitment “to defend South Korea through a robust combined defense posture and through extended deterrence, including the US nuclear umbrella, conventional strike and missile defense capabilities.”
: US State Department releases US Relations with North Korea Fact Sheet.
: UN press statement condemns DPRK failed missile test.
: DPRK conducts a failed intermediate-range missile test.
: President Park Geun-hye tells ROK government to prepare for large-scale defections from DPRK, days after a direct appeal to its citizens to flee their country.
: US and ROK conduct Invincible Spirit naval exercises to “strengthen maritime interoperability and tactics, techniques and procedures,” in South Korean waters.
: US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power travels to Japan and South Korea to discuss DPRK nuclear and missile programs and meet North Korean defectors on DPRK to discuss human rights abuses.
: US and South Korean navies conducted a joint exercise near the North Korean maritime border. The exercise marks the first time joint forces conducted naval training in an area closest to North Korea’s maritime border in the East Sea or Sea of Japan.
: Vice President Joseph Biden convenes a trilateral meeting of US, ROK, and Japan health experts to discuss trilateral collaboration on the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, aimed at enhancing research and data sharing on finding a cure for cancer.
: US Secretary of State John Kerry, Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio, and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se meet in New York to discuss responses to North Korea’s latest nuclear test.
: US Secretary of State John Kerry extends Chuseok (Thanksgiving) greetings to South Korea, noting the strength of the alliance and shared common vision between the peoples of the US and Korea.
: US House Speaker Paul Ryan tells visiting ROK National Assembly members that “strong US-Korea economic and defense ties are critical to the safety and prosperity of both nations.”
: DPRK conducts its fifth nuclear test.
: UNSC condemns DPRK missile launches.
: DPRK launches three ballistic missiles into Japanese territorial waters.