Chronography of Korea North and South post 1945
Page last modified 21 August
also China, Japan, Korea for events pre 1945
of North Korea
of South Korea
8.0, North Korean Missile and Nuclear
7.0, North Korean Missile and Nuclear
6.0, North Korean Missile and Nuclear
5.0, North Korea under Kim Il Sung, 1968-96
4.0, South Korea post Armistice 1953-1991
3.0, Korean War, stalemate 1951 to
2.0, Korean War 1950-51. US forces reach
Chinese frontier; General MacArthur wants to carry war into China
1.0, Korean War started by North, 1950
0.0, Korea divided, 1945-50
North Korea blew up the �Liaison Office�, a 4-storey building in a zone of
North Korea where South Koreans could work. This was a protest at propaganda
balloons and food sent in by southerners from across the border.
A historic summit meeting took place in Singapore between President Kim Jong Un of North
Korea and President
Trump of the USA.
Kim Jong Un
became the first leader of North Korea to cross into South Korea for a historic
meeting with the South Korean leader, Moon Jae In.
Korean Missile and Nuclear Tests 2016-17
28 November 2017, North Korea test fired a missile which flew 1,000 km towards the Sea of
Japan. This missile attained a height in excess of 100 km then re-entered the
atmosphere, proving that North Korea has missiles with a re-entry capability.
14 September 2017, North
Korea fired another missile over the Japanese island of Hokkaido, into the Pacific Ocean. The missile rose to an altitude
of 770 km, and travelled 3,700 km, which would have taken it to Guam had it
travelled southwards not east.
3 September 2017, North
Korea detonated a test Hydrogen Bomb underground in its north-east. The test
produced a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The missile was reported to be capable of
being fitted on an ICBM and hitting the USA.
28 August 2017, North
Korea test fired a missile, which overflew the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, travelled 1,000 km and landed
in the Pacific. Japan protested at the intrusion into its airspace.
28 July 2017, North
Korea launched a further missile, which landed inside the Japanese Economic
Zone waters. The missile attained a height which indicated it had
intercontinental ballistic capabilities, threatening the US.
4 July 2017, North
Korea test-fired a ballistic missile
which flew 930 km/580 miles, on US Independence Day.
8 June 2017, North
Korea test-fired a further land to sea missile.
7 June 2017, North
Korea test-fired 4 anti-ship missiles.
29 May 2017, North
Korea fired a short-range ballistic
missile that flew for 280 miles in 6 minutes before landing in the Sea of
Japan. This was reported to be the second
test-firing of a missile in two days by North Korea.
21 May 2017, North Korea
test-fired a further ballistic missile.
13 May 2017, North
Korea test fired a further ballistic
missile, which flew 430 miles. It fell into the sea between Russia and
28 April 2017, North
Korea test-fired a further ballistic
16 April 2017, The day
after North Korea�s annual celebrations of �The Day of the Sun� (15 April, the
anniversary of the birth of the founder of North Korea, President Kim Il Sung), with a
large military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea attempted to launch an
intercontinental ballistic rocket. However the rocket blew up on the launch
pad. President Trump of the USA had, stationed a naval strike force just off
North Korea, ready to strike either Pyongyang or the rocket launch pads. On 17 April 2017 North Korea threatened to
conduct one missile test every week.
5 April 2017, North
Korea test-fired a medium range missile
which they said was capable of destroying a US aircraft carrier. The missile
6 March 2017, North
Korean artillery fired four missiles
into the Sea of Japan, as part of an exercise simulating a North Korean attack
on US bases in Japan; some missiles landed within 200 miles of Japan. Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe called the move �extremely dangerous�.
12 February 2017, North
Korea successfully launched a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2
missile from a submarine. This was an act of defiance against the new Trump
administration in the US.
9 September 2016, North
Korea conducted its 5th nuclear test, the largest to date.
7 February 2016, North
Korea launched a satellite into orbit.
The US and South Korea made strong protests, because the same rocket technology
could be used for an intercontinental nuclear strike.
6 January 2016, North
Korea claimed to have exploded a Hydrogen
Bomb in an underground test. China, North Korea�s closest ally expressed
anger over this and over claims that North Korea had also succeeded in firing a
missile from a submarine. However the explosion was smaller than would be
expected from a true Hydrogen Bomb, and may have been a �boosted fission� bomb
June 2017, Otto Warnbier,
a 22-year old student at the University of Virginia, was unexpectedly released
from North Korea after more than a year in detention following his conviction
for stealing a propaganda poster whilst on a tour of the country. He had been
sentenced to 15 years hard labour for this offence following a 1-hour trial. He
was returned in a state of severe brain damage, and died on 19 June 2017. The
cause of his brain damage has not been determined.
The US sent the large aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the sea off North
Korea, as a show of force.
Kim Jong Un,
President of North Korea, put his troops on a war footing in reaction to South
Korea blasting propaganda messages by loudspeaker across the border. Seoul said
the propaganda broadcasts, the first since 2004, were in retaliation for a
landmine that maimed two South Korean soldiers. North Korea threatened to shoot
out the loudspeakers. There was also exchange of gunfire between the two
North Korea reopened the joint N-S
industrial zone at Kaesong.
North Korea closed the joint N-S
industrial zone at Kaesong.
7.0, North Korean Missile and Nuclear
2 April 2013, North Korea said it would restart its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.
12 February 2013, North Korea conducted a 3rd
underground nuclear test, provoking fears of war with the USA.
12 December 2012, North Korea successfully launched a
satellite using its Unha-3 rocket, see 13 April 2012.
13 April 2012, North Korea launched a satellite, which
exploded soon after take-off. The USA condemned the move. The rocket used was
the Unha-3, which could theoretically carry a nuclear missile to the mainland
USA. See 12 December 2012.
29 February 2012, North Korea agreed to stop enriching
uranium and testing missiles.
North Korea cut the phone line with
the South, breaking the 1953 Armistice terms.
The UN Security Council unanimously
agreed to tighten sanctions on North Korea.
July 2012, Kim Jong Un
was officially appointed Supreme Leader
of North Korea.
Kim Jong Il died, succeeded
by hs son, Kim Kong Un.
Kim Jong Il,
leader of North Korea died. His youngest son, Kim Jong Un, succeeded him.
North Korea shelled the South Korean
island of Yeonpyeong.
North Korea was blamed for the
sinking of a South Korean naval vessel, the Cheonan,
killing 46 of the 104 aboard.
6.0, North Korean Missile and Nuclear
25 May 2009, North Korea
announced that it had conducted a second successful underground nuclear test;
America condemned the move.
5 April 2009, North Korea fired a rocket, ostensibly
to carry a satellite. The UN held an emergency session, but took no action.
13 February 2007, North Korea agreed to close its nuclear
facility at Yongbyon by 14 April 2007
in return for energy aid equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.
9 October 2006, North Korea claimed to have conducted its
first ever nuclear test explosion.
July 2006, The UN and Japan imposed
sanctions on N Korea, and South Korea halted food aid.
19 September 2005, North
Korea agreed to stop building nuclear reactors in exchange for aid and
February 2005, North Korea announced it had
8 March 2004, North Korea demanded the
withdrawal of all US troops from South Korea as a precondition for N Korea abandoning
its nuclear programme.
24 April 2003, Talks in Beijing between N
Korea and the USA ended when the Koreans stated, provocatively, that they had
almost completed the reprocessing of 8,000 spent fuel rods, giving enough
plutonium for 8 more warheads.
10 January 2003, North Korea announced it
would withdraw from the 1970 Non Proliferation Treaty, which allowed
international inspection of nuclear facilities. It claimed this was due to the
�hostile actions� pf US President Bush, who had named North Korea as part of an
axis of evil. |It was uncertain whether North Korea genuinely feared a US
attack, or was trying to gain leverage for extracting more aid.
2002, The US suspended help to North Korea in building two nuclear reactors,
over suspicions that the country was secretly enriching uranium for a bomb.
United Nations inspectors were expelled from the Yongbyon nuclear facility.
Talks between North and South Korea. As a result of these talks, a limited
number of North Koreans were allowed to meet family members in the South, from
whom they had been separated since the Korean War 1950-3.
Korea agreed to stop testing long-range missiles.
Korea fired a Taedong missile over Japan. A North Korean mini-submarine
was captured in South Korean
North Korea test-fired a ballistic weapon over Japan as a show of strength.
There were fears that North Korea was covertly building nuclear weapons.
1997, Major famine in North Korea; estimates of
those who died vaty from 100,000 to 3 million. Kim Jong Il became Party Leader.
Kim Jong Il succeeded Kim Il
Korea under Kim Il Sung, 1968-96
1 February 1996, The US Government offered
to help a UN food assistance programme in famine-hit North Korea.
1994, North Korea shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, which had been producing plutonium. This was in exchange
for US aid and assistance in producing civilian nuclear power.
21 October 1994, North Korea agreed to
international inspection of its nuclear facilities in return for political and
Kim Il Sung
8 July 1994. North Korean President Kim Il Sung
(born 1912) died. His son Kim Jong Il succeeded him after a power
22 March 1994, Talks between North and
South Korea, aimed at averting nuclear capability by the North, broke down and
a full military alert was set up in the South. The crisis was defused when
former US President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang on 15 June 1994.
11 March 1993. North Korea threatened to withdraw from the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty, but did not in fact leave.
12 February 1991, North and South Korea
formed a joint team for a table tennis competition.
31 August 1998, North Korea test-fired a
ballistic weapon over Japan as a show of strength. There were fears that North
Korea was covertly building nuclear weapons.
15 April 1988, North Korean President Kim Il Sung received 43,000 gifts as he
instituted lavish celebrations for his 76th birthday.
1986, North Korea started
operations at the 5-megawatt Yongbyon
nuclear reactor, which had been built with Soviet help.
1975, Sweden became the first Western
country to set up an embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea.
23 January 1968, The USS Pueblo, an intelligence ship,
and its 89 man crew was seized by the North Koreans in the Sea of Japan.
Korea post Armistice 1953-1991
1991, South Korea joined the United
1988, South Korea hosted the Olympic
10 June 1987, President Chun of South Korea
named his successor as General Roh Tae Woo. This provoked
demonstrations because Roh, close friend of Chun, had supported his coup
against the military after the 1979 assassination of Park.
1986, South Korea began exporting cars.
9 October 1983, North
Korean dissidents set off a bomb at the Martyr�s Mausoleum, Yangon, Myanmar. 16
South Koreans were killed and the South Korean President, Chun Doo Hwan, only narrowly escaped death.
1 September 1983, A South Korean airliner
was shot down by Soviet fighter planes after it had strayed into USSR airspace,
killing 269 people.
14 October 1982. 5,837 people were married
simultaneously in Seoul, South Korea; the
world�s largest mass wedding.
3 January 1982, South Korea finally lifted
a nightly curfew imposed 36 years earlier.
26 October 1979, President Park Chun Hee
of South Korea was assassinated by his secret service.
14 March 1979, Korean reunification talks
remained deadlocked over who would participate in the discussions.
19 January 1979, President Park Chun Hee
of South Korea proposed talks with North Korea on reunification.
1972, Martial law was declared
in South Korea.
21 January 1968, North Korean commandos made an assassination attempt upon President Park of South Korea, getting within 300 metres of the
1965, South Korea restored official links
19 July 1965, Syngman Rhee, first President of the Republic of
Korea (1948-60) died in Hawaii.
1961, Military coup in South Korea led to
rule by an authoritarian junta under Park
3 July 1961, In South Korea, General Park Chung Hee was
named as leader of the military administration which had overthrown the
democratic government on 16 May 1961.
27 April 1960. Synghman Rhee resigned as
President of South Korea, amidst popular discontent (The April Revoluition).
15 March 1960, Presidential elections in
South Korea were won fraudulently by Synghman Rhee, 85; demonstrations across the
country forced his resignation on 27 April 1960.
20 July 1954, The Geneva Agreement ended hostilities between North and South Korea.
10 October 1953, President Eisenhower of the USA signed a treaty with South Korea promising military aid if
North Korea attacked.
War, stalemate 1951 to Armistice 1953
27 July 1953, Armistice signed in Panmunjom, Korea, ended the Korean War. The 3-year conflict cost an estimated 4 million lives.
These included 1,313,000 South Koreans, 1,000,000 of whom were civilians;
900,000 Chinese soldiers, 520,000 North Korean soldiers, and 1,000,000 North
Korean civilians. There were 33,629 US casualties and 3,194 UN soldiers were
killed. Across Korea, 43% of industrial facilities and 33% of homes were
20 April 1953, Exchange of PoWs from the Korean War at Panmunjon.
31 December 1952, China now had 1,200,000 troops under Peng TeHuai fighting alongside
24 October 1952, In the US, Eisenhower described Korea as �the burial
place of twenty thousand Americans� and promised that if he was elected
President he would end the Korean War. Meanwhile the United Nations remained
deadlocked over the issue of the return of North Korean prisoners of War. The
USSR and China wanted them all returned to North Korea, but some PoWs insisted
they had been forcibly drafted into the North Korean forces and wanted to
settle in South Korea.
23 June 1952. US planes bombed hydro-electric plants in North Korea. One of these
was close to the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. The US
was forced to apologise to its allies for taking the Korean war so close to the
border without consulting them.
30 May 1952, General Mark Clark took over command of UN
forces in Korea.
for Korean War, 1950 onwards
4 March 1952, China accused the US of germ warfare in Korea.
27 December 1951, A trial armistice period
ended and fighting resumed in Korea, but now only to influence the final peace.
Both sides realised that complete victory was unattainable.
25 October 1951, Peace talks in Korea
resumed at Panmunjom.
23 September 1951, South Korean forces took
Heartbreak Ridge, as fighting continued.
23 August 1951, Talks to end the Korean
War broke up without agreement.
10 July 1951, Negotiations began between the USA and USSR over the Korean conflict.
The USSR demanded a return to the 38th parallel; the US insisted on
the current front line as the frontier. The US also rejected Chinese demands
for a withdrawal of all foreign troops from Korea. PoWs were also an issue,
with the US holding 171,000 prisoners, 50,000 of whom did not wish to return to
Communist rule. Many North Koreans and Chinese wished to go to South Korea or
Taiwan. The Communists, afraid of losing face, wanted all returned. Both sidcs
wanted an end to the conflict; Dwight D Eisenhower, in office from 1953, was
concerned at the expense of the war. Stalin�s death in 1953 in March 1953 eased
the deadlock. Most of the PoWs who wanted to defect to Western countries were
allowed to do so.
25 April 1951, In the Korean War, the
Battle of Imjin River ended. The frontline had now become stalemated at around
the 38th parallel, where the frontier had been before the war.
22 April 1951, In the Korean War, the Battle of Imjin River. Defensive action by UN
troops against Chinese and N Korean forces.
2.0, Korean War
1950-51. US forces reach Chinese frontier; General MacArthur wants to carry war
11 April 1951. General MacArthur was relieved of his command by President Truman, after disagreeing over the
conduct of the Korean War.� MacArthur wanted to carry the war over into
Communist China, and bomb Chinese bases in Manchuria.� MacArthur returned to a heroes
welcome in Washington, but did not realise his hopes of nomination for the US
Presidential elections. From now until the Armistice of 1953 both sides fought
holding actions to maintain current positions; US forces were slightly north of
the 38th parallel.
31 March 1951, In
the Korean War, UN / US forces once again reached the 38th parallel,
the border between North and South.
5 February 1951, In Korea, UN forces advanced again towards Seoul.
4 January 1951, Seoul was evacuated by US forces (again). However at Pyongtaek, 50 km
south of Seoul, the Chinese-North Korean offensive was halted. A UN
counter-offensive began in late January.
1 January 1951, Chinese and North Korean forces
advanced through UN lines and captured Seoul.
28 December 1950. Chinese forces in Korea crossed the 38th parallel.
6 December 1950, North Korean forces, backed by China, reoccupied
Pyongyang, which had been taken by US and South Korean forces in October 1950.
28 November 1950. China entered the Korean War; 200,000 troops entered Korea across the Yalu River. UN troops were forced back south again. On 28
December 1950 Chinese forces crossed the 38th parallel. The West had
ignored Chinese threats to intervene if US forces crossed north of the 38th
24 November 1950, South Korean forces began an offensive in the Yalu Valley; China planned intervention to support the
26 October 1950. US forces advancing in North Korea reached the Yalu
River, the border between North Korea and China.
1.0, Korean War started by North, 1950
19 October 1950. US and South Korean forces captured Pyongyang,
during the Korean War. The UN General
Assembly declared an aim of a united Korea.
29 August 1950. The first British soldiers
arrived in Korea.
7 August 1950, US forces in Korea
launched an offensive at Chinju.
29 June 1950, South
Korean forces retook Seoul.
for Korean War, 1950 onwards
28 June 1950, British
Royal navy ships joined the US forces in South Korea.
27 June 1950. North
Korean forces took Seoul. British forces joined the war in Korea.
26 June 1950, US
President Truman sent US forces to support South Korea.
25 June 1950. Start
of the Korean War. North Korea invaded the South, crossing the 38th
parallel, which was the border.
0.0, Korea divided, 1945-50
30 January 1950, North
Korea Chairman, Kim
Il-sung, was informed that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had decided to
plan for an invasion of South Korea. Stalin provided the message to Kim
by way of Soviet envoy Terenti Shtykov, after having met with Chinese
Zedong in Moscow.
29 June 1949, US troops
completed their withdrawal from South
Korea, leaving behind just 500 men to serve as advisors to the
98,000-strong South Korean armed forces, a body barely large enough to maintain
internal order, let alone deal with any threat from North Korea.
7 June 1949, In a
statement to US Congress, President Harry S Truman, talking about
measures necessary to prevent Communist domination of the Pacific, declared that Korea had become a testing
ground in the ideological conflict between Communism and democracy.
17 March 1949, The USSR
agreed to provide heavy military equipment to North Korea.
9 September 1948,� Following
the withdrawal of Russian troops, North
Korea became independent as the People�s Democratic Republic of North
15 August 1948. The Republic of Korea was proclaimed
in the south of the peninsula; Syngman Rhee
was the first President. On 9 September 1948
a Communist republic was set up in North Korea.
31 May 1948, The
South Korean National Assembly elected Syngman
Rhee as Chairman.
14 November 1947. The UN recognised the
independence of Korea.
23 August 1946, In North Korea, the Workers Party was established. By
December 1946 its membership reached 600,000 (total population of North Korea
was then 9 million). One of the Party leaders was Kim Il Sung, who had received
Red Army training.
29 December 1945, Koreans
attacked US soldiers in Seoul in protest at the decision to wait as long as
five years to restore Korean independence.
14 October 1945, Kim Il Sung returned
to North Korea (in the uniform of a Soviet Red Army Major) to receive a hero�s
welcome. Soviet policy in North Korea
was to install North Korean Communists in key positions swiftly after the War
ended to reinforce Communist rule in the northern half of the country.
10 October 1945, The
Communist Party of Korea was founded. North Korea observes Party Foundation Day
every October 10 as a national holiday.
8 September 1945. The USA and USSR agreed to divide the
6 September 1945, A Leftist committee led by
Lyuh proclaimed itself the official Government of an independent
South Korea. However the US under Lieutenant John R Hodge, Commanding General of
US forces in Korea, refused to recognise this Government. The US wanted to
establish a trusteeship to supersede both the US military administration in the
South and the Soviet-backed administration in the North. The Korean Government
in exile declared itself as a political party, not the government.
11 August 1945, The US drafted General Order No.1, providing for Japanese forces in
Korea north of the 38th parallel to surrender to the Soviets; those
south of the 38th parallel to surrender to the Americans. The
Soviets began to seal off the North at the 38th parallel, whilst the
US was keen to halt any further southwards penetration by Russian soldiers.
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