| October
1 | - The ROK President urges in
her speech on Armed Forces Day that North Korea should stop
developing nuclear and long-range ballistic missiles
immediately and grasp the hand of cooperation extended by
South Korea and the international community.
|
| October 1 |
- Minister of Unification stresses cooperation with the
international community in achieving peaceful unification in
his keynote speech at the Korea Global Forum 2015 held in
Europe.
|
| October 1 |
- North Korean Foreign Minister Ri
Su-yong claims in his address at the 70th Session of the
U.N. General Assembly that his country’s space development
for peaceful purposes is a legitimate right of a sovereign
state defined in international law and its nuclear test is a
self-defensive measure to cope with the U.S.’s hostile
policy and nuclear threat.
|
| October 2 | - Regarding
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri’s remarks, the ROK
government calls on the North to comply with U.N.
resolutions and make joint efforts for achieving peace not
only in Northeast Asia but in the world alongside the
international community (in a briefing by the spokesperson
for the Ministry of Unification).
|
| October 2 | - The ROK
government expresses regret that the North condemned the
remarks made by the President during her visit to China and
threatened the fulfillment of the deal agreed to in the
high-level talks, stressing that the North should stop these
behaviors and create a turning point in the development of
inter-Korean relations by faithfully implementing the
Agreement (in a briefing by the spokesperson for the
Ministry of Unification).
|
| October 2 | - The Jogye
Order consults with the Korean Buddhists' Federation of
North Korea on a South-North joint Buddhist service on the
occasion of the 8th anniversary of the restoration of
Shingye Temple (Gaeseong).
|
| October 2 | - The Korean
Central News Agency (KCNA) argues in a commentary that U.K.
magazine The Week’s positive article on “the North Korean
nuclear issue” is “an objective evaluation on the legitimacy
of having nuclear capability,” stressing that “As long as
the U.S. does not roll back its hostile policy toward North
Korea, North Korea’s war deterrent for self-defense will
continue to be strengthened.”
|
| October 3 | - Regarding the
ROK President’s keynote speech at the 70th Session of the
U.N. General Assembly, North Korea’s KCNA threatens in a
commentary that “the reunion of separated families is at
stake,” saying that “this is a heinous confrontational act
that ruins the atmosphere of improving inter-Korean
relations.”
|
| October 5 |
- South and North Korea conduct a
joint project to prevent disease and insect infestation of
the pines at Mt. Kumgang (October 5-7).
|
| October 5 | - North
Korea’s Red Cross Society sends a message to the Korean Red
Cross notifying it that the North will hand over a South
Korean citizen detained in the North (Joo Won-moon) at 5
p.m. today.
|
| October 5 |
- The Korean Red Cross sends a
message to the DPRK Red Cross Society notifying it that the
South welcomes the North’s decision to repatriate Joo
Won-moon and it will send an official to Panmunjeom at 5:30
p.m. (Korea Standard Time).
|
| October 5 | - The Korean Red
Cross sends a message to the DPRK Red Cross Society
notifying it that the South welcomes the North’s decision to
repatriate Joo Won-moon and it will send an official to
Panmunjeom at 5:30 p.m. (Korea Standard Time).
|
| October 5 |
- Joo Won-moon, a South Korean citizen detained in the
North, is repatriated via Panmunjeom.
|
| October 7 | - North
Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a statement, urges
the U.S. to respond to “an offer to discard the Armistice
Agreement and sign a peace treaty,” saying that the current
“Armistice Agreement cannot keep peace on the Korean
Peninsula.”
|
| October 8 |
- South and North Korea exchange
the final list of separated family members for the reunion
event.
|
| October 10 |
- North Korea holds an event to mark
the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers’ Party
of Korea (WPK), which includes a speech by Kim Jong-un, a
military parade and a civilian parade.
|
| October 12 | - The
Inter-Korean Joint Board for the Compilation of
Gyeoremal-keunsajeon (Big Dictionary of the Korean People’s
Language) holds a meeting (October 12-19, Mt.
Geumgang).
|
| October 14 |
- South and North Korea hold a
special exhibition of relics excavated from the South-North
joint excavation project of Manwoldae in Gaeseong (October
14-November 6, Seoul / October 15-November 15, Gaeseong) and
a symposium (October 15, Gaeseong).
|
| October 14 | - North
Korea’s Red Cross Society sends a message to the Korean Red
Cross notifying it that former Vice Chairman Ri Chung-bok
was appointed Chairman of the Central Committee of North
Korea’s Red Cross Society.
|
| October 15 | - A
spokesperson for the North Korean Education Committee, in a
statement, criticizes the ROK government’s “reintroduction
of a single state-produced history textbook” as “an
unprecedented coup d’état in history,” adding that “the
criminals who distort the truth of history will be sternly
judged by the Korean people,” and instigates “an
anti-government fight.”
|
| October 15 | - Minister of
Unification says that “An institutional framework is needed
for expanding peace and the August 25 Agreement shows the
possibility of peace” (Korea Global Forum).
|
| October 16 | - The
ROK and U.S. heads of state adopt the “2015 ROK-U.S. Joint
Statement on North Korea” at their summit meeting. * The
leaders of the ROK and the U.S. reaffirm their “utmost
urgency and determination” regarding the North Korean
nuclear problem, warn North Korea over its nuclear and
ballistic missile provocations and express their willingness
to offer a brighter future to North Korea if the North
demonstrates a genuine willingness to completely abandon its
nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
|
| October 17 | - North
Korea resumes condemning the ROK President by name, which
had been suspended after the August 25 Agreement (Rodong
Sinmun, By Our Nation Itself, etc.).
|
| October 17 | - North
Korea’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, demands that the
U.S. “conclude a peace treaty.”
|
| October 17 | - North Korea’s
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a Q&A session with a
KCNA reporter, denounces the 2014 International Religious
Freedom Report (released by the U.S. Department of State)
and a North Korean human rights resolution brought by the
U.N.
|
| October 19 | - North Korea’s KCNA and Rodong Sinmun, in
their commentaries, criticize the ROK-U.S. summit and the
adoption of the 2015 ROK-U.S. Joint Statement on North Korea
at the meeting.
|
| October
19 | - North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself blasts the 2015 ROK-U.S. Joint Statement on North
Korea as being “tantamount to a pro-American sycophantic and
anti-national act” and “an act of begging for a
confrontation between fellow countrymen.”
|
| October 20 | - The
20th Reunion of Separated Families is held (October 20-26,
Mt. Geumgang).
- First Round (October 20-22): North
Korean families (96, accompanied by 45) meet their relatives
in the South (389)
- Second Round (October 24-26):
South Korean families (90, accompanied by 164) meet their
relatives in the North (188)
|
| October 22 | - The ROK
government calls on North Korea to return to the Six-Party
Talks at the 10th conference of the Council for Security
Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP).
|
| October 22 | - North
Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a Q&A session
with a KCNA reporter, reacts against a U.S. nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier’s visit to the port city of Busan and calls
for the conclusion of a peace treaty between North Korea and
the United States.
|
| October
22 | - North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself denies hacking the computers of some South Korean
lawmakers and their aides.
|
| October 23 | - Priests of
the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice (CPAJ) visit
the North for a joint Mass in the Jangchung Catholic Church
(October 23-27, Pyongyang and Mt. Myohyang).
|
| October 23 |
- Priests of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice
(CPAJ) visit the North for a joint Mass in the Jangchung
Catholic Church (October 23-27, Pyongyang and Mt.
Myohyang).
|
| October 24 |
- The ROK Navy fires warning shots
at a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the Northern
Limit Line (NLL) near Yeonpyeong Island.
|
| October 25 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a Q&A session with a
KCNA reporter, slams the South’s warning shots at the North
Korean patrol boat in the Yellow Sea.
|
| October 27 | - Minister
of Unification emphasizes “a continued effort to develop
inter-Korean relations” in a face-to-face meeting with the
German representative of the Korean-German Parliamentarians'
Friendship Association.
|
| October 27 | -
The ROK President stresses in her
administrative policy speech on the 2016 budget bill that
inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation should be expanded
and the separated family issue should be addressed.
* △“The government will proactively seek exchanges and
cooperation to restore a sense of unity between South and
North Korea,” and △“The government will make every effort to
ensure the confirmation of the living status of members of
separated families and hold the reunion of separated
families on a regular basis.”
|
| October 27 | - Ace Gyeongam,
a charity foundation fund, and the Green Asia Organization
(GAO) donate agricultural materials and fertilizers to North
Korea.
|
| October 28 |
-
A friendly football match is held between
workers from the South and the North (October 28-31,
Pyongyang) * The 162-member delegation representing
the ROK Confederation of Trade Unions and the ROK Federation
of Trade Unions visits the North.
|
| October 29 | - The 2015
Korea Forum for Global Peace is held (co-hosted by the
Ministry of Unification, the Presidential Preparatory
Committee for Unification and the Committee to Commemorate
the 70th Anniversary of National Liberation).
|
| October 29 | -
The ROK government expresses strong regret
over the North’s denunciation of “the reintroduction of a
single state-produced history textbook” and calls on the
North to faithfully fulfill the August 25 Agreement and
strive to improve inter-Korean relations. * North
Korea’s major media outlets, including Rodong Sinmun and By
Our Nation Itself, have blasted “the reintroduction of a
single state-produced history textbook” right after the ROK
government announced its plan to improve the publishing
system of history textbooks (October12).
|
| October 30 | - The
Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee announces a
written decision (“On convening the 7th Congress of the
WPK”).
|
| October 30 |
- The ROK government sends a message
proposing a preliminary contact, but the North refuses to
receive it.
|
| October 31 |
- A spokesperson for the North’s
Overseas Construction Guidance Bureau, in a statement,
condemns a press conference by the U.N. Special Rapporteur
on Human Rights in North Korea regarding the forced labor of
North Korean workers dispatched overseas (October 28, local
time).
|
| October 31 |
- The heads of state of the ROK and
China discuss a plan to strengthen bilateral communication
on the unification issue of the Korean Peninsula at their
summit meeting.
|
