| December 2 |
- The Presidential Preparatory
Committee for Unification holds its 3rd meeting, △
Announcing the status of government-civilian cooperation
since the launch of the Committee, future plans, the
Committee’s direction of activities and implementation plan
for the next year, and △ Carrying out presentations by each
subcommittee and discussions.
|
| December 2 | - The Ministry
of National Defense discloses the plan to construct a
temporary Christmas tree and hold a lighting ceremony in
Aegibong at the request of the Christian Council of
Korea.
|
| December 4 |
- A spokesperson of the Chosun (North
Korea) Christian Religion Union, in a statement, criticizes
the plan to erect a temporary Christmas tree and hold a
lighting ceremony in Aegibong.
|
| December 6 | - The North’s
By Our Nation Itself announces that the North revised
provisions of the labor regulations at the Gaeseong
Industrial Complex (GIC) on November 20th and eliminated the
provision that the minimum wage increase is capped at five
percent a year.
|
| December
8 | - The Unification Minister
visits the U.S. (December 8-14). The Minister emphasizes the
need to increase cooperation between South Korea and the
U.S. to induce the North to change its attitude through the
Korea Global Forum (KGF) and meetings with U.S. members of
Congress and government officials.
|
| December 8 | - Four
members of the Cheontae Order visit the North (Gaeseong) to
consult a joint Buddhist service to pray for unification on
the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the restoration of
Yeongtong Temple.
|
| December
9 | - The Association of
Inter-Korean Historians consults a joint project to excavate
and survey the royal palace site of Manwoldae in Gaeseong
and the Complex of the Goguryeo tombs in Pyongyang.
|
| December 10 | - The ROK government expresses its firm
position that it will not tolerate the North’s unilateral
revision of the labor regulations for the GIC regarding the
North’s announcement made on December 6th.
|
| December 10 | - The
Inter-Korean Economic and Cultural Cooperation Foundation
consults a visit to the North (Gaeseong) regarding a joint
project of exhibiting national documentary heritage.
|
| December 11 | - In a Q&A session with reporters, a
spokesperson of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification
of the Fatherland condemns President Park by name regarding
her mentioning of the North Korean nuclear and human rights
issues.
|
| December 12 |
- The Unification Ministry
spokesperson, in his press briefing, expresses grave regret
over the North’s latest direct criticism of President Park
and encourages the North to self-reflect.
|
| December 12 | - The
Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification
of the Fatherland, in a press release, criticizes the
South’s discussions on unification as a “scheme for a system
showdown” with the aim of achieving unification by absorbing
the North.
|
| December 13 |
- The North’s Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, in a statement, states that the U.S. is a
wasteland of human rights, citing △ A report on CIA torture,
and △ The Ferguson incident, criticizing that the U.S. seeks
to overthrow the North Korean system.
|
| December 15 | - North
Korea refuses to receive a message from the South regarding
the revision of labor regulations at the GIC (twice on
December 15th and 16th).
|
| December 16 | - The
Unification Ministry spokesperson, in his commentary,
expresses regret over the North’s attitude regarding the
refusal to receive the notice and makes it clear that the
ROK government will disapprove any institutional change
without consultations between the authorities of both sides
and take stern measures accordingly.
|
| December 16 | - Lawmaker
Park Ji-won, Vice-President of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center
and Cho Gun-shik, CEO of Hyundai Asan Corp., send wreaths to
the North to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the death of
Kim Jong-il.
|
| December
18 | - A North Korean human rights
resolution is passed at the plenary session of the UN
General Assembly with 116 votes in favor, 20 against, and 53
abstentions.
|
| December 18 |
- The Christian Council of Korea
announces that it will withdraw the plan to construct a
temporary light tower in Aegibong.
|
| December 19 | - The
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in his commentary, welcomes
the passage of the North Korean human rights resolution and
urges the North to take specific and substantial measures to
enhance the human rights of the North Korean people.
|
| December 19 | - North Korea sends a message requesting
representatives from both the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center and
Hyundai Asan Corp. to visit the GIC on December 23rd or 24th
to express its gratitude for the wreaths delivered on
December 16th.
|
| December
20 | - The North's Foreign
Ministry issues a statement rejecting the North Korean human
rights resolution passed at the UN General Assembly and
arguing for △ Nullifying all agreements, including the
September 19 Joint Statement, and △ Strengthening
self-defense military power, including nuclear
armament.
|
| December 20 |
- The Secretariat of the Committee
for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, in a press
release, argues that the strained inter-Korean relations are
largely due to the South’s policy focused on confrontation,
calling for Seoul to change its policy.
|
| December 20 | - The
North's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a statement,
threatens that, “The U.S.’s hostile acts against the DPRK
will make the North unable to refrain from conducting a
nuclear test any longer and the North’s war deterrent power
will be strengthened unlimitedly.”
|
| December 20 | - In a
Q&A session with a reporter from the Korean Central News
Agency, the North’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson denies the
North’s Sony Pictures hacking, proposing a joint inspection
to the U.S.
|
| December 21 |
- Regarding the press release by
the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, the ROK government urges
the North to come to the dialogue table instead of repeating
its attitude of shifting the responsibility.
|
| December 21 |
- The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a press release, blasts
the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) as a
“political act of terrorism.”
|
| December 22 | - The
Unification Ministry spokesperson, in his briefing,
expresses “grave regret” over the North’s one-sided argument
regarding the break-up of the UPP, urging the North to stop
“its attitude to take advantage of our internal issue with
an ulterior motive.”
|
| December 22 | - The UN
Security Council (UNSC) adopts the “North Korean human
rights situation” related to the North Korean human rights
issue as an official agenda with 11 votes in favor, two
against, and two abstentions.
|
| December 23 | - The Foreign
Ministry spokesperson, in his commentary, expresses his
expectations that the UNSC will have in-depth discussions to
improve the human rights record in North Korea regarding the
adoption of the North Korean situation as an official
agenda.
|
| December 23 |
- The ROK government returns a North
Korean fishing boat which was found drifting near the Dokdo
islets and rescued on December 19th.
|
| December 24 | - North
Korea delivers a personally handwritten letter to former
first lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun
Jeong-eun to thank them for the wreaths delivered to
commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il
on December 16th (during a conversation with Kim Yang-geon,
Director of the United Front Department of the Workers’
Party of Korea).
|
| December
25 | - A spokesperson of the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland,
in a statement, states that the ROK government aggressively
intervened in the UN human rights scheme regarding the
UNSC’s adoption of the North Korean human rights issue as an
agenda, threatening that it will mete out merciless
punishment.
|
| December 26 |
- North Korea returns a South
Korean resident, who entered the North illegally, via
Panmunjeom.
|
| December 27 |
- A spokesperson of the Policy
Department of the National Defense Commission, in a
statement, △ Accuses the U.S. of staging an Internet failure
in North Korea, △ Argues that it has nothing to do with the
Sony Pictures hacking, and △ Hurls racial slurs against U.S.
President Obama.
|
| December
29 | - The government
vice-chairman of the Presidential Preparatory Committee for
Unification sends a message to the Director of the United
Front Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea proposing to
hold a dialogue on mutual interests, including the separated
family issue, in the middle of January, 2015.
|
| December 31 |
- In her 2015 New Year’s Speech, President Park says, “On
the strength of solid security readiness, the government
will work to put an end to the 70-year-long division, which
has caused severance and conflicts, and induce North Korea
to the path of trust and changes. In the process, the
government will lay a substantive, concrete foundation on
which to achieve unification.”
|
