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North Korea

sovereign state in East Asia

51 dated entries naming North Korea, drawn from 33 separate years between 1018 CE and 2024 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

JSONWikipedia articleWikidata Q423

11th century

  • 1018December – Goryeo–Khitan War: Khitan forces of the Liao dynasty invade Goryeo (North Korea). Goryeo forces led by General Kang Kam-ch'an annihilates the Khitan army at Kusong.source

20th century

  • 1948August 1945 – 1948 – Due to Korea being under Japanese rule during World War II, Korea was considered an Axis belligerent against the Allies. The surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea into southern and northern occupation zones. The southern being administered by the United States and the area north of the 38th parallel being administered by the Soviet Union. The division was to be temporary and was meant to return a unified Korea back to its people after the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China could implement a single government for Korea. Due to differing opinions between the two parties on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea, two separate governments were established in 1948 with two opposing ideologies; the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the First Republic of Korea – both claiming to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean peninsula.source
  • 1949October 6 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) established its first diplomatic and friendly relations with newly proclaimed Communist China (PRC) between the two nations.source
  • 1950June 25 – The Korean War begins: Troops and T-34 tanks of the North Korean People's Army cross the 38th parallel into South Korea.source
  • 1951January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).source
  • 1953July 27 – The Korean War ends, with the Korean Armistice Agreement: The United Nations Command (Korea) (United States), China and North Korea sign an armistice agreement at Panmunjom, and the north remains communist, while the south remains capitalist. No formal peace treaty is ever signed.source
  • 1966November 2 – North Korean commandos ambush a UN command control consisting of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.source
  • 1969April 15 – The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a US reconnaissance aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.source
  • 1976January 5 - The government of Democratic Kampuchea was proclaimed and constituted as a Communist People's Republic, and a 250-member Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Kampuchea (PRA) was selected in March to choose the collective leadership of a State Presidium, the chairman of which became the head of state within the CPK, the Paris-educated leadership of Saloth Sâr (Pol Pot) was in control over Cambodia which had become Southeast Asia's secretive and most isolated totalitarian country from the rest of the world after North Korea which proceeded to implement the policy of Year Zero led by Angkar and its Khmer Rouge cadres, with these relationships were based on shared Marxist-Leninist and Maoist ideology, Democratic Kampuchea had very close ties with North Korea and China, while Burma (Myanmar) recognized the government.source
  • 1976August 18 – At Panmunjom, North Korea, two United States soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the Korean Demilitarized Zone which has obscured their view.source
  • 1977January 6 - The first anniversary of the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea as the totalitarian society since the Fall of Phnom Penh after the Cambodian Civil War had ended, China and North Korea provided a significant support to Angkar and the Khmer Rouge, with China as the main backer while North Korea became lesser extent by its diplomatic relations with a very strong support of Communist allies who learned the same lines with Marxist-Leninist ideology in the Far East.source
  • 1977September 19 – North Korean agents abduct Yutaka Kume from Noto Peninsula starting the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.source
  • 1978February 14 - Both leaders from North Korea and Communist China had sided with Cambodia to maintain its own independent standing within the "communist world" and to support its "revolutionary comrade-in-arms", with Kim Il Sung and Deng Xiaoping provided critical support to Angkar and the Khmer Rouge, as their motivations and the nature of their relationships with Pol Pot as "Brother Number One" that implemented an extremist form of Maoism, drawing direct inspiration from China's Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution especially Red August to Cambodia's Super Great Leap Forward ("Moha Lout Plaoh").source
  • 1978March 10 - The leadership of "Angkar," had fostered a cult of personality centered on the "Supreme authority", which continues omnipresent and demanded complete loyalty to the "Communist Party of Kampuchea" (CPK), the People's Republic of China was the primary benefactor of the military provided by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) with the vast majority of its external support from China, while North Korea (DPRK) also served as a significant and loyal ally to the Khmer Rouge, though its material contributions were secondary to those from Beijing, with Pyongyang became generally the second-largest trading partner after China, which both maintained strong, unique ties of the geopolitical alliances between the two nations.source
  • 1983July 1 – A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet, en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea, crashes into the Fouta Djall Mountains of Guinea, killing all 23 people on board.source
  • 1983October 9 – The Rangoon bombing kills South Korea's Foreign Minister, Lee Bum Suk, and 21 others. The perpetrators are believed to be North Koreans.source
  • 1987June - Minister of External Affairs N. D. Tiwari visits North Korea as part of ministerial conference of Non-Aligned Movement.source
  • 1993March 12 – North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea announces that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites, beginning the 1993–94 North Korean Nuclear Crisis.source
  • 1994July 8 – Kim Il Sung, 82, founder and first leader of North Korea, heart attack.source
  • 1998September 5 – The Government of North Korea adopts a military dictatorship on its 50th anniversary. The constitution is amended, and the late Kim Il Sung is enshrined as the eternal President.source

21st century

  • 2003The Nikkei benchmark hit a 20-year low record as war in Iraq appears closer, alleged stock manipulation by Nikko Salomon Smith Barney came to light, North Korea is preparing to test fire a mid-range missile, and a new political scandal in the party of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi came to light.source
  • 2004January 6 - Pakistan is cited as the source of nuclear weapon technology supplied to Libya, Iran and North Korea. The components intercepted at sea by Italy en route to Libya were fabricated in Malaysia. There is no evidence that the Pakistani government of President Pervez Musharraf knew about the transfer of technology of Libya.source
  • 2004April 22 – Ryongchon disaster: Two trains carrying explosives and fuel collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing 161 people, injuring 1,300 and destroying thousands of homes.source
  • 2004May 24 – North Korea bans mobile phones (see Communications in North Korea).source
  • 2005February 10 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it says it perceives from the United States.source
  • 2005September 19 – North Korea agrees to stop building nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and cooperation.source
  • 2007February 13 – North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon by April 14 as a first step towards complete denuclearization, receiving in return energy aid equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.source
  • 2008July 11 – South Korea suspends all trips to North Korea's Mount Kumgang after a 53-year-old South Korean tourist is shot and killed by a North Korean sentry.source
  • 2009April 5 – North Korea launches a rocket from its Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, which it says is carrying the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 satellite, prompting an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.source
  • 2009May 25 – North Korea announces that it has conducted a second successful nuclear test in North Hamgyong Province. The United Nations Security Council condemns the reported test.source
  • 2010March 26 – The ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship carrying 104 personnel, sinks off the country's west coast, killing 46. In May, an independent investigation blames North Korea, which denies the allegations.source
  • 2010November 23 – North Korea shells Yeonpyeong Island, prompting a military response by South Korea. The incident causes an escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and prompts widespread international condemnation. The United Nations declares it to be one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War.source
  • 2012April 13 – Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, explodes shortly after launch. The United States and other countries had called the impending launch a violation of United Nations Security Council demands. The launch was planned to mark the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of the republic.source
  • 2012December 12 – North Korea successfully launches satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2.source
  • 2013February 12 – North Korea conducts its third underground nuclear test, prompting widespread condemnation and tightened economic sanctions from the international community.source
  • 20143 April – A Mongolian-flagged cargo ship sinks off the coast of South Korea, with most of the 16 North Korean crew members reported missing.source
  • 2014December 2 - Transparency International issues its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index with Somalia tying with North Korea with the lowest ranking.source
  • 2016February 7 – North Korea launches a reconnaissance satellite named Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 into space, it is condemned internationally as a long-range ballistic missile test.source
  • 2016September 9 – The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".source
  • 2017February 11 – North Korea prompts international condemnation by test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan.source
  • 2017February 13 – Assassination of Kim Jong-nam: Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the half-brother of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is killed after being attacked by two women with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.source
  • 2017United States Passports become invalid to travel to North Korea, in response to the death of Otto Warmbier.source
  • 2017September 3 – North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.source
  • 2018April 27 – 2018-19 Korean peace process: Kim Jong Un crosses into South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in, becoming the first North Korean leader to cross the Demilitarized Zone since its creation in 1953.source
  • 2018May 5 – In North Korea, clocks are adjusted to UTC+9 (GMT+09:00) to the same as South Koreasource
  • 2018May 24 – Foreign journalists report that tunnels in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site have been destroyed by the North Korean government in a move to reduce regional tensions.source
  • 2019June 20–21 – Chinese President Xi Jinping makes a state visit to North Korea. It is his first visit to the country as president and the first visit to North Korea by a Chinese leader since Hu Jintao's visit 14 years prior.source
  • 2020June 16 – North Korea demolishes the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong, established in 2018 to improve relations.source
  • 2020July 25 – COVID-19 pandemic: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convenes an emergency meeting, declares a state of emergency, and orders the lockdown of Kaesong after a person suspected of having COVID-19 returned from South Korea. If confirmed, it would be the first case to be officially acknowledged by North Korea.source
  • 2021September 14 – North Korea demonstrates two short-range ballistic missiles that land just outside Japan's territorial waters; and then only hours later South Korea demonstrates its first submarine-launched ballistic missile.source
  • 2024December 3 – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law during a late-night address broadcast live on YTN television, accusing the country's main opposition Democratic Party of sympathizing with North Korea and engaging in anti-state activities.source

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