| December. 2 | - North Korea
condemns the ROK-US joint aerial drill (December 4-8) as an
“attempt to find an excuse to launch a preemptive nuclear
strike” or a “prelude to nuclear war” (in a statement by a
spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| December. 4-8 |
- The ROK and the US carry out the Vigilant ACE joint
aerial exercise.
|
| December.
5 | - The ROK government
emphasizes that the North’s declaration of its completion of
nuclear armament is separate from its actual completion of
the technological development for nuclear bombs, saying that
it has not yet reached the final stage (in an interview with
CNN by Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha).
|
| December. 6 | - ROK President Moon Jae-in says that
inter-Korean talks to address the North Korean nuclear issue
and to improve inter-Korean relations will soon begin (at a
luncheon meeting with religious leaders).
|
| December. 6 | - The
North says that although it does not want a war, it would
never avoid it (in a
Q&A session with reporters by a spokesman for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| December. 7 | - South
Korea’s Presidential Committee on Northern Economic
Cooperation is launched.
|
| December. 5-8 | - UN
Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey D.
Feltman visits the North and meets with North Korea’s
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho.
- - The UN
official later said that during his visit to Pyongyang, he
proposed the resumption of the dialogue between the two
Koreas and the North’s participation in the PyeongChang 2018
Winter Olympics (at a press interview on December 14).
|
| December. 8 | - ROK President Moon emphasizes the need
for attaining overwhelming military superiority over the
North to maintain security and peace (at a luncheon with
military commanders at Cheongwadae, the Blue House).
|
| December. 11 | - The ROK government announces additional
sanctions against North Korea in response to the North’s
test-firing of the Hwasong-15 ICBM (November 29).
- -
The South puts 20 organizations, including financial
institutions and shipping companies, and 12 individuals from
the North on the sanctions list.
|
| December. 11 | - The ROK
President says that bilateral cooperation between the ROK
and China is important towards inducing North Korea’s
denuclearization (in an interview with CCTV of China).
|
| December. 11-12 | - The ROK, the US, and Japan conduct a
joint missile tracking exercise to detect and track North
Korean missiles.
|
| December.
11-14 | - Mr. Tomás Ojea Quintana,
the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in
North Korea, visits the ROK.
- - He expresses intent
to meet a group of North Korean women who defected to the
South while working at a North Korean restaurant in China,
and mentions that UN sanctions against the North might have
a negative impact on ordinary people in the North (at a
press conference on December 13).
- North Korea’s
Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ja Song Nam
says that the North can engage the United States in dialogue
if certain conditions are met (reported by NHK of
Japan).
|
| December. 12 |
- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
says that he is willing to meet with the North with no
preconditions (in his keynote speech at a discussion meeting
co-sponsored by the Atlantic Council and the Korea
Foundation).
|
| December. 12 |
- A White House spokesperson says
that President Donald Trump’s view of the North has not
changed regardless of Secretary Tillerson’s remarks made on
the same day.
|
| December.
14 | - The ROK-China summit
meeting (in Beijing)
- - The two leaders agree on the
following four principles to maintain peace and stability on
the Korean Peninsula: 1) war on the Korean Peninsula is
unacceptable, 2) sticking to a firm commitment to
denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, 3) peaceful
resolution of the North Korean issues including
denuclearization through dialogue and negotiations, and 4)
resolution of the Korean Peninsula issues through
improvement in inter-Korean relations.
|
| December. 15 |
- North Korea blasts the missile tracking exercises
between the ROK, the US, and Japan (December 11-12), calling
them a grave provocation that aggravates the situation on
the Korean Peninsula (in a statement by the Director of the
Disarmament and Peace Institute of the DPRK Ministry of
Foreign Affairs).
|
| December.
19-22 | - The International
Under-15 Football Tournament is held in Kunming, China under
the sponsorship of the Inter-Korean Sports Exchange
Association.
- - Six teams from South Korea, North
Korea, Uzbekistan, and China participate.
|
| December. 20 | - ROK
President Moon says that the ROK-US joint military exercise
may be postponed if the North stops provocations until after
the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, and that he proposed
postponement to the US (in an interview with NBC).
|
| December. 20 | - The ROK-US Combined Forces Command
announces that it would follow the decision made by the two
allies on the postponement of the joint military drill.
|
| December. 22 | - The UN Security Council adopts
Resolution 2397 regarding sanctions against North
Korea.
|
| December. 26 |
- The US Department of Treasury
announces that two high-ranking officials of the North (Kim
Jong Sik, the deputy director of the Workers’ Party of Korea
Munitions Industry Department, and Ri Pyong Chol, first vice
department director of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central
Committee) are added to the Specially Designated Nationals
and Blocked Persons List (the SDN List).
|
| December. 27 | - The
UK and Switzerland include 16 individuals and the Ministry
of the People’s Armed Forces of North Korea on the SDN
List.
|
| December. 28 |
- The Policy Innovation Committee of
the ROK’s Ministry of Unification publishes an Opinion on
Policy Innovation.
- - It includes the outcome of the
review of key issues raised in the process of pushing ahead
with policy on North Korea and unification.
* The
committee launched on September 20, 2017 consists of nine
experts from academia and non-governmental
organizations. |
