| March
1 | - The ROK President, in her
address on March First Independence Movement Day, stresses
that South Korea needs to seek a turning point for the
reconciliation of all Korean people while calling on the
North to resume inter-Korean dialogue.
|
| March 2 | - A
spokesperson for the General Staff Department of the Korean
People’s Army, in a statement, threatens to turn the South
into a “sea of fire” while slamming the ROK-US joint
military exercises as the “nuclear war drills to invade
North Korea.”
|
| March 2 |
- Regarding the ROK-U.S. military
exercises, the North’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a
statement, threatens that “The North will respond with a
great war of justice for achieving national reunification to
even a trivial provocation," saying that
"Accidental sparks can fly up.”
|
| March 2 | - North Korea
fires two short-range missiles into the East Sea.
|
| March 2 |
- The ROK government warns a “stern and firm response to
the North’s provocations” (in a briefing by a spokesperson
of the Ministry of National Defense).
|
| March 2 | - Regarding the
anti-North Korea leaflets, North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself threatens that the North will “fire shots aimed at
the balloons” and “respond with cannons and missiles.”
|
| March 2 | - South and North Korea discuss the North
Korean human rights issue during the meeting of the U. N.
Human Rights Council (March 2 -27).
|
| March 3 | - The Committee
for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, in a
statement, claims that “The chance for resuming inter-Korean
dialogue and improving relations is gone and only the
ultimate showdown by force will remain.”
|
| March 3 | - Regarding
the statement by the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, the ROK government expresses regret over “the
North’s threat of military retaliation” and calls on the
North to “stop threatening” (in a briefing by the
Unification Ministry spokesperson).
|
| March 3 | - North Korea
submits an entry form (108 athletes in 8 different sporting
events) to participate in the 2015 Gwangju Summer
Universiade (July 3-14) via FISU (International University
Sports Federation).
|
| March
5 | - Regarding the attack on U.S.
Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert, North Korea supports
it, saying that “This is deserved punishment for the
warmongering United States and reflects the public sentiment
criticizing the U.S.” (According to KCNA).
|
| March 6 | - The ROK
government strongly denounces the North’s support for the
attack on the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and calls for
halting the irrational incitement (in a briefing by the
Unification Ministry spokesperson).
|
| March 7 | - The
Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification
of the Fatherland distorts and supports the attack on U.S.
Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert as a “righteous act”
and a valid “expression of resistance
that reflected public sentiment against the U.S.”
|
| March 7 |
- The Choson Sinbo reports that North Korea lifted the
quarantine measures to block Ebola.
|
| March 8 | - Regarding the
report by the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, the ROK government deplores
the North for siding with an act of violence as a “righteous
act” and laments that the North fabricated South Korean
measures to prevent these acts as a “plot against the DPRK.”
It also calls on the North to immediately stop the
distortion, fabrication, and incitement and have time for
self-restraint while considering what normal behavior would
be.
|
| March 9 | - The ROK government says that it would
not accept the North’s unilateral measures regarding the
Gaeseong Industrial Complex and stresses that system
improvement should be addressed through agreements between
both authorities (in a statement by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| March 10 |
- Regarding the protest condemning
the pro-North Korea forces, the Secretariat of the Committee
for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland criticizes
the allegations that the North was involved in the attack on
the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and threatens that “they
shall pay with the cost of their blood,” saying that they
insulted the highest dignity of the nation and the North
Korean flag.”
|
| March 12 |
- The ROK President, in her
congratulatory speech at the “2015 Joint Commissioning
Ceremony of the Military Academies and ROTC Units,” says
that South Korea is responsible for passing down an era of
unification to the next generation on the Korean Peninsula,
stressing that security is a strong foundation for
this.
|
| March 12 | - North Korea conducts a drill of firing 7
ground-to-air missiles in the Seondeok area of South
Hamgyong Province.
|
| March
12 | - North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself demands the “lifting of regulations on exporting
supplies from the South and the May 24 Measures,” arguing
that “The Gaeseong Industrial Complex’s labor regulations
are not subject to agreements with the South and this is the
North’s execution of its right to pass a law.”
|
| March 13 |
- The ROK government expresses regret over the North’s
ignoring of the agreements between the two Koreas and the
scrapping of the meeting of the South-North Joint Management
Committee for the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) on March
13th (in a briefing by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| March 13 |
- A hearing report on Hong
Yong-pyo, the candidate for Unification Minister, is
adopted. The Park Geun-hye government launches its second
Ministry of Unification.
|
| March 14 | - Regarding the
remarks by civilian Vice-Chairman Jeong Jong-wook (Team for
Unification by Absorbing the North), a spokesperson for the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland,
in a statement, says that the Presidential Preparatory
Committee for Unification is an “organization plotting to
achieve unification by absorbing the North,” meaning that
unification preparation is “preparation for unification by
absorbing the North” and calls on the South to make an
apology and disband the Presidential Preparatory Committee
for Unification.
|
| March
14 | - North Korea holds an
enlarged cabinet meeting, evaluates the project of following
the instructions of Kim Jong-il over the past three years
and discusses plans to execute the tasks of joint
slogans.
|
| March 15 |
- Regarding the statement by a
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, the ROK government
expresses regret for the North’s argument and calls on the
North to stop disrespectful comments and behavior against
the South’s head of the state and to respond to the South’s
efforts to create the foundation for peaceful unification
(in a commentary by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| March 16 |
- Unification Minister Hong
Yong-pyo, in his inaugural speech, presents the policy
direction that he would evolve the Trust-building Process on
the Korean Peninsula through communication and
convergence.
|
| March 16 |
- South Korea’s civic
organizations, including Fighters for Free North Korea, give
notice that they will continue the scattering of anti-North
Korea leaflets before and after the 5th anniversary of the
sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan.
|
| March 17 |
- The ROK President, in a meeting with the representatives
of the ruling and opposition parties, urges the North to
respond to the South’s proposal for dialogue
unconditionally, stressing the position that she would talk
with anyone for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
|
| March 17 |
- The ROK government’s joint investigation department
announces interim results that North Korea committed the
hacking of data related to the nuclear power plants of Korea
Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (HNPC) (based on the use
of the North’s unique malicious code and the trace of North
Korean IP connection, etc.).
|
| March 17 | - The ROK
government criticizes the North for continuing to commit
cyber terrorism against South Korea and the international
community and calls on the North to immediately stop such
practices (in a statement by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| March 17 |
- North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself denies the North’s involvement in the hacking
incident, saying that it is not related to the hacking of
nuclear power data of HNPC.
|
| March 18 | - A spokesperson
for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland, in a Q&A session with a KCNA reporter,
criticizes that the inaugural speech of the Unification
Minister as being “sophistry without sincerity” and a
“provocation and a ridicule.”
|
| March 19 | - Fourteen
representatives of companies running factories in the
Gaeseong Industrial Complex visit the North and have
face-to-face talks with North Korean officials including
Park Chul-soo, Vice Director of the Guidance Bureau for the
Development of the Central Special Economic Zone in
Gaeseong.
- The delegation delivers a recommendation
that the revision of labor regulations needs agreement
between South and North Korean authorities, but the North
refuses to receive it.
|
| March
21 | - The ROK, China, and Japan
hold a meeting of Foreign Ministers and discuss the North
Korean nuclear issue, etc.
- The Foreign Ministers of
the three Asian countries reaffirm their “firm position
against the development of nuclear weapons on the Korean
Peninsula” and express their position that they would
continue to exert joint efforts to “resume the Six-Party
Talks” (in a joint statement of the meeting of Foreign
Ministers between Seoul, Beijing, and Tokyo).
|
| March 22 |
- Regarding the South’s civic organizations’ plan to
scatter anti-North Korea leaflets, the frontline military
units of the Korean People’s Army give notice that they will
“enter into the operation of destroying the balloons
indiscriminately” and threaten to “punish the organization
with consecutive strikes.”
|
| March 22 | - Regarding the
North’s denunciation and threat for the scattering of
anti-North Korea leaflets, the ROK government sternly warns
against it and expresses that it will deal firmly with the
North’s provocative acts (the Joint Chiefs of Staff).
|
| March 22 | - North Korea refuses to receive a letter
of invitation to the 7th World Water Forum (April
12-17).
|
| March 23 | - Park Sang-hak, a representative of
Fighters for Free North Korea, announces that it would
completely halt the scattering of anti-North Korea leaflets
for the time being.
|
| March
23 | - The Christian Council of
Korea announces a joint prayer for Easter with the Chosun
(North Korea) Christian Religion Union.
|
| March 24 | - A
spokesperson for the Policy Department of the National
Defense Commission, in a statement, demands the lifting of
the May 24 Measures, repeating its argument that the North
is not related to the sinking of the Cheonan.
|
| March 24 |
- The ROK government expresses regret for the North’s
argument and reasserts that North Korea should take
responsible measures to persuade the South Korean people to
lift the May 24 Measures (in a briefing by the Unification
Ministry spokesperson).
|
| March 25 | - North Korea
denies that members of the Presidential Preparatory
Committee for Unification visit the North’s facilities when
they visit the GIC to inspect the healthcare facilities
which are being operated by the South and the North.
|
| March 26 | - The ROK President, in her speech to
commemorate the Cheonan victims to mark the 5th anniversary
of the sinking of the naval ship, calls on the North to give
up provocations and stresses that the sacrifice of the
victims should not be in vain.
|
| March 26 | - North Korea
claims that two South Korean citizens (Kim Kuk-gi and Choi
Chun-gil) are spies and holds a press conference at the
People’s Palace of Culture on March 26th.
|
| March 26 | - The
Jogye Order has contact with the Korean Buddhists’
Federation in Shenyang, China, and agrees to hold a joint
Buddhist service in Mt. Geumgang or Gaeseong around the
National Independence Day.
|
| March 27 | - Regarding the
5th anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan, the
Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification
of the Fatherland criticizes the ROK President by name,
repeating its existing argument that the sinking of the
Cheonan is a plot by Seoul and Washington.
|
| March 27 | - The ROK
government expresses regret for the North’s detention of
South Korean citizens and its allegation, and urges the
North to repatriate them to the South immediately (in a
statement by the Unification Ministry spokesperson).
- The South tries to send a message containing these
contents but the North refuses to receive it (March
27).
|
| March 27 | - On the occasion of the first anniversary
of the Dresden Declaration (March 28), the ROK government
explains the results of this initiative and urges the North
to respond to it aggressively (in a commentary by the
Unification Ministry spokesperson).
|
| March 27 | - The U.N.
Human Rights Council adopts the North Korean Human Rights
Resolution that calls on the international community to
respond to the North Korean human rights situation,
expressing grave concern about it (March 27).
|
| March 27 |
- The ROK government welcomes the U. N. Human Rights
Council’s adoption of the North Korean Human Rights
Resolution (in a commentary by a spokesperson for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| March 28 | - The North’s
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a statement, criticizes
the U.N. Human Rights Council’s adoption of the North Korean
Human Rights Resolution, threatening that it would sternly
deal with it.
|
| March 30 |
- Regarding the establishment of a
U.N. human rights office to monitor North Korean Human
Rights in Seoul (scheduled), the Secretariat of the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland
threatens to “punish the South mercilessly.”
|
