| November 1 | -
The heads of state of the ROK, Japan and
China adopt the Joint Declaration for Peace and
Cooperation in Northeast Asia at their 6th trilateral
summit. * △ Reaffirm the position on the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, △ Faithfully
implement international obligations and commitments under
all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and the
September 19 Joint Statement, △ Oppose any action that may
cause tension on the Korean Peninsula or violate relevant
U.N. Security Council resolutions and △ Continue joint
efforts to resume meaningful Six-Party Talks at an early
date.
|
| November 2 | - The heads of state of the ROK and Japan
reaffirm the importance of Seoul-Tokyo and
Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation concerning the North
Korean nuclear issue and other North Korea issues at their
summit meeting.
|
| November
2 | -
The Joint Communique of the 47th Republic
of Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting is
announced. * △ Reaffirm that “any North Korean
aggression or military provocation is not to be tolerated,”
△ Approve the implementation guidance on the "Concepts
of ROK-U.S. Alliance Comprehensive Counter-missile
Operations (4D Operational Concept)," △ Endorse the
"Conditions-based Operational Control (OPCON)
Transition Plan" (COT-P), △ Strengthen cooperation
through joint training and exercises regarding the space and
cyberspace domains and △ Affirm that the ROK is continuing
to develop ROK counterfire forces capable of executing
missions during the early phases of war by around the year
2020.
|
| November 2 | - Forty-nine members of the Foreign
Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly
visit an ancient royal palace site, Manwoldae, in
Gaeseong.
|
| November 3 |
- The South’s Cheontae Order and the
North’s Korean Buddhists' Federation hold a joint Buddhist
service to pray for unification on the occasion of the 10th
anniversary of the restoration of Yeongtong Temple
(Gaeseong).
|
| November 4 |
- The North’s Central Special Zone
Development Guidance General Bureau sends a message to the
South's GIC Management Committee notifying it that the North
will restrict the access of two South Koreans, including the
vice chairman of the Committee, to the Gaeseong Industrial
Complex (GIC).
|
| November
4 | - The ROK government tries to
send a letter in the name of the joint chairman of the GIC
Management Committee expressing the position that the South
will not accept the North’s measure to restrict South
Koreans’ access to the GIC, but the North refuses to receive
it.
|
| November 5 | -
The Presidential Preparatory Committee for
Unification holds its 6th meeting. * The ROK
President stresses △ the restoration of a sense of unity
between South and North Korea (addressing the separated
family issue as soon as possible and expanding inter-Korean
exchanges in the private sector), △ the establishment of the
foundation for peace on the Korean Peninsula (calling for
the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and
inter-Korean dialogue) and △ the expansion of the horizon of
peaceful unification (gaining the support of the
international community and building a network of overseas
Koreans).
|
| November 5 |
- North Korea’s Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, in a Q&A session with a KCNA reporter,
argues that, regarding the consultation on the early
settlement of the comfort women issues at the ROK-Japan
summit (November 2), “the comfort women victims in the North
should be included in the settlement.”
|
| November 5 | - North
Korea withdraws the measure to restrict two South Koreans,
including the vice chairman of the GIC Management Committee,
from accessing the GIC.
|
| November 5 | - North Korea
withdraws the measure to restrict two South Koreans,
including the vice chairman of the GIC Management Committee,
from accessing the GIC.
|
| November 5 |
- Representatives of the Guus Hiddink Foundation visit the
North to consult on building Dream Field (a futsal field for
the visually impaired) (November 5-7, Pyongyang).
|
| November 6 |
- A spokesperson for the Committee on Measures for
Compensation to Former Korean Comfort Women for the Japanese
Army and the Victims of Forcible Drafting, in a statement,
argues that the comfort women issue is an international
issue, not something that Japan can simply bypass evasively
with the South Korea authority.
|
| November 9 |
- Representatives of the Korea Conference of Religions for
Peace (KCRP) visit the North on the occasion of the
Inter-Korean Religious Meeting (November 9-10, Mt.
Kumgang
|
| November 11 |
-
The ROK President stresses the efforts to
improve human rights and quality of life in the North at
the Seoul Dialogue for Human Rights. * “The North
Korean human rights issue is not only an issue of the
universal dignity of humankind, but also an essential task
to restore a sense of unity between South and North Koreans
in the process of achieving peaceful unification.”
|
| November 12 | - North Korea and Russia sign the
Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Military Activities
to prevent accidental confrontations between the militaries
of both countries.
|
| November
12 | - North Korea’s Foreign
Ministry spokesperson, in a Q&A session with a KCNA
reporter, emphasizes that, regarding “the redesignation of
North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism” argued by Ted
Poe, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, the
North’s “anti-terrorism position has not changed” and the
North will “strengthen and develop its nuclear deterrent”
against the U.S.’s anti-North Korean policy.
|
| November 13 |
- The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S.
Department of the Treasury adds four North Koreans,
including the North Korean Ambassador to Burma, to the
Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List regarding illicit
activities that violate the U.S.’s executive orders.
|
| November 13 | - North Korea’s Foreign Minister makes an
official visit to the Republic of Angola (November
13-16).
|
| November 13 |
-
The ROK President stresses that the North’s
change of attitude is crucial in improving inter-Korean
relations during a joint interview with representatives
from eight members of the Organization of Asia-Pacific
News Agencies (OANA). * △“There is no reason not to
hold an inter-Korean summit if a breakthrough comes in
resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and some progress
is made in improving inter-Korean relations.” △“But it will
be possible only when the North comes forward to a proactive
and sincere dialogue, and what counts most is North Korea's
sincerity and determination to act on its words."
|
| November 13 | - The Presidential Preparatory Committee
for Unification and the Ministry of Unification cohost an
international conference entitled “Preparing for a Peaceful
Unification of Korea.”
|
| November 13 | - North
Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a Q&A session
with a KCNA reporter, denounces that the remarks made by
Sung Kim, Special Representative for North Korea Policy of
the U.S. Department of State, (“Progress in denuclearization
should be made before signing a peace treaty.”), means that
“the U.S. will not give up its hostile policy toward North
Korea.”
|
| November 15 |
- The ROK President says at the G20
Summit that “If North Korea gives up its ambitions for
nuclear weapons and chooses a path toward openness and
cooperation, we will work together with the international
community to support infrastructure investment across
Northeast Asia, an amount expected to be worth about 63
billion dollars annually.”
|
| November 15 | - North
Korea’s KCNA and Rodong Sinmun urge the South Korean
authorities to make a bold decision to make a fundamental
switch in their anti-North Korea confrontation policy,
stating that if they “persistently keep on the road of
confrontation with their compatriots in the North while
seeking cooperation with outside forces in the anti-North
Korea campaign, they may scupper the hard-won atmosphere of
improving inter-Korean relations into a catastrophe in a
moment.”
|
| November 15 |
- North Korea’s KCNA and Rodong Sinmun
condemn Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se’s remarks (“Even at
this moment, North Korea is advancing its nuclear and
missile capabilities.”) as “a rash act of creating an
obstacle to inter-Korean dialogue.”
|
| November 16 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee on Measures for Compensation
to Former Korean Comfort Women for the Japanese Army and the
Victims of Forcible Drafting, in a statement, stresses that
“it is the legal and state responsibility to atone for past
crimes rightly,” criticizing Japan’s oppression of the
General Association of (pro-Pyongyang) Korean Residents in
Japan, or Chongryon (Jochongnyeon), and its adoption of the
security law 110 years after the Japanese imperialists
fabricated the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905.
|
| November 16 | -
U.S. President Obama announces “FACT SHEET:
Advancing the Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific.” *
△ North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear and
missile programs and proliferation activities pose a direct
and serious threat to U.S. national security and that of our
allies. △ The U.S.’s priorities are to work with regional
partners to achieve the verifiable denuclearization of North
Korea, to discourage, detect, and interdict North Korean
proliferation activities and to ensure all countries enforce
U.N. Security Council resolutions related to North
Korea.
|
| November 17 |
- 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 (Mr. Lee) at 4 p.m.
|
| November 17 | - The Korean
Red Cross sends a message to North Korea’s Red Cross Society
notifying it that the South will send an official in charge
of the delivery of Mr. Lee to Panmunjeom at 4:30 p.m. (Korea
Standard Time).
|
| November
17 | - Mr. Lee, a South Korean
citizen detained in the North, is repatriated to the South
via Panmunjeom.
|
| November
17 | -
The Rajin-Khasan project carries out its
third trial operation (November 17-30). * The three
South Korean firms of POSCO, Korea Railroad Corp. and
Hyundai Merchant Marine participate in the operation,
carrying 120,000 tons of bituminous coal and 10 containers
filled with Chinese bottled mineral water.
|
| November 17 |
- Minister of Unification stresses at the 2015 National
Rally for Peaceful Unification that the government will make
its utmost efforts to address the separated family issues,
saying that some separated families visited their hometowns
on the occasion of a joint exhibition of relics found at
Manwoldae.
|
| November 17 |
- North Korea's
ambassador-at-large, in a press conference in New York,
denounces the resolution submitted to the Third Committee of
the General Assembly on October 30 as “malicious slander”
and calls for the authors, the European Union and Japan, to
abandon the motion.
|
| November
17 | - North Korea’s KCNA and
Rodong Sinmun criticize the ROK President’s remarks on the
need for reintroducing a single state-produced history
textbook (“Perspectives on history are very important as we
prepare to embrace unification soon.”) at the meeting of the
Presidential Preparatory Committee for Unification (November
5) as a “confrontational act.”
|
| November 17 | - North
Korea’s KCNA and Minju Joson condemn the remarks made by
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se at the meeting with his
Iranian counterpart (“I hope that the North will learn a
lesson from Iran’s nuclear deal and Iran can have a positive
effect on the North Korean nuclear issue.”) as “begging for
nuclear cooperation.”
|
| November 18 | - The ROK
President emphasizes at the summit meeting with her Canadian
counterpart that “We need to exert efforts to make progress
in the denuclearization of North Korea with utmost urgency
and work to strengthen the cooperation of the international
community.”
|
| November 18 |
- The ROK President asks her
Philippine counterpart for the country’s cooperation as a
key ally in Southeast Asia and a supporter for South Korea’s
North Korea policy at their summit meeting.
|
| November 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 ROK government’s calling
for the North to respond to the talks between both
authorities is shifting the responsibility to North Korea,
demanding the South to “create an atmosphere of
dialogue.”
|
| November 18 |
-
North Korea’s “Naenara” (“my country” in
Korean), the propaganda website of North Korea, discloses
the Comprehensive Development Plan of the Rason
(Rajin-Sonbong) Free Economic Trade Zone. * The
Plan includes △ Laws on investment in the Rason Free
Economic Trade Zone, △ Development of tourist sites, △
Development of industrial zones, △ Investment in domestic
companies, △ Investment items, △ Taxation policy, △
Investment policy and △ Procedures of establishing a
company.
|
| November 18 |
- The History Society of North Korea
issues a memorandum to mark 110 years since the Japanese
imperialists fabricated the Korea-Japan (Ulsa) Treaty
(November 17, 1905), denouncing that "the Ulsa
Five-point Treaty was an illegal document without legal
force and Japan can never shirk responsibility for its
illegal colonial rule over Korea” (November 18, KCNA).
|
| November 19 | - The Third Committee of the General
Assembly passes a North Korean human rights resolution.
|
| November 20 | - The Secretariat of the Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland sends a message to
the Ministry of Unification proposing to hold a
working-level contact for the talks between both authorities
on November 26 at Tongilgak on the North Korean side of
Panmunjeom.
|
| November 20 |
- Minister of Unification Hong
Yong-pyo sends a message to Kim Yang-gon, Secretary of the
Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, accepting
the North’s proposal.
|
| November 20 | - A
spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR) urges the Chinese and Vietnamese
authorities to publicly clarify the fate of the nine North
Korean nationals and to refrain from forcibly returning them
to North Korea, saying that “there are fears that they may
be – or may already have been – repatriated to North
Korea.”
|
| November 20 |
- The ROK government welcomes the
Third Committee of the General Assembly’s adoption of the
North Korean human rights resolution, urging the North to
improve its human rights situation (in a commentary by a
spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| November 21 | - The ROK President stresses at the 18th
ASEAN+3 Summit that we need to lead the North to change by
delivering the international community’s united message
while continuing the dialogue and cooperation to address the
North Korean nuclear issue.
|
| November 21 | - North
Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a statement,
rejects the North Korean human rights resolution passed at
the Third Committee of the 70th U.N. General Assembly,
stating that it is “a politically provocative document
against the DPRK,” and declares “a stern response.”
|
| November 21 | - North Korea, in a KCNA commentary, urges
the U.S. to “boldly roll back its outdated hostile policy
toward North Korea and respond to Pyongyang's proposal for
concluding a peace treaty at an early date,” saying that the
Obama administration’s policy of “strategic patience” toward
North Korea is “a completely failed policy that is
accelerating the decline of the U.S.”
|
| November 22 | - The ROK
President stresses at the 10th East Asia Summit that since
regional peace and stability cannot be guaranteed without
resolving the North Korean nuclear issue at a time when
North Korea continues advancing its nuclear capabilities,
EAS member countries need to send a clear message with one
voice to North Korea to address this issue.
|
| November 22 | - The
ROK President expresses support for "a society free
from weapons of mass destruction, free from nuclear weapons
and free from war” advocated by ASEAN at the ROK-ASEAN
Summit, stressing that this goal should be achieved on the
Korean Peninsula. The President says that the North Korean
nuclear issue is the most important issue in the political
and security cooperation with ASEAN, calling on ASEAN to
maintain a clear and consistent voice on the issue.
|
| November 22 | - A spokesperson for North Korea's
Southwest Frontline Military Command, in a statement,
threatens that, regarding the South’s plan for maritime
firing exercises in the northwest islands (November 23) on
the occasion of the 5th anniversary of “the shelling of
Yeonpyeong Island,” “if the firing is aimed at the North
Korean waters, the South will invite merciless punishment on
the waters of the five islands.”
|
| November 23 | -
The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights
in North Korea visits South Korea (November 23-27).
* Marzuki Darusman, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights in North Korea, emphasizes at a press conference that
it is necessary to continue pursuing accountability for
anti-humanitarian crimes in North Korea (November 26).
|
| November 23 | - Prime Minister expresses the
government’s will to establish peace and prepare for
unification on the Korean Peninsula in his memorial speech
on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of “the shelling of
Yeonpyeong Island.”
|
| November
23 | - North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself strongly reacts against the report by the National
Intelligence Service at the general meeting of the
Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly (November
18, “It is believed that there is a possibility of
connection between North Korea and IS, though hard evidence
has yet to be found.”), saying that this is “a scheme and
fabrication against the same people.”
|
| November 24 | - A
spokesperson for the Policy Department of the National
Defense Commission, in a statement, threatens the South
Korean military’s maritime firing exercise in the northwest
islands.
|
| November 24 |
-
North Korea notifies the South of its
delegation list for a working-level contact. * △
List of three representatives (Hwang Cheol, the head of the
delegation, Kim Myeong-cheol and Kim Cheol-young) and △
Other matters (request for a waiting room and a situation
room, guarantee of convenience in going through customs for
the belongings and the provision of 8 direct lines)
|
| November 24 | - Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea's Chief
Delegate to the Six-Party Talks, and his Chinese counterpart
Wu Dawei exchange opinions on the plan to make progress on
the North Korean nuclear issue, including preventing
provocations and resuming talks on denuclearization.
|
| November 24 | - China welcomes the working-level contact
for talks between authorities from South and North Korea,
stating “We hope that the inter-Korean talks will be resumed
as soon as possible” (in a regular briefing by a
spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| November 24 | - The Secretariat of the Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, in a press
release, claims that “the North has the legitimacy of having
nuclear capabilities” and “it will strengthen its nuclear
deterrent,” stating that the ROK President’s remarks at the
G20 Summit (international cooperation on the North Korean
nuclear issue, etc.) are “a shame and disgrace to the Korean
nation."
|
| November 24 |
- North Korea’s KCNA and Minju
Joson blast the remarks of the ROK President and authorities
that “the North should respond to inter-Korean dialogue
including the talks between authorities of both sides,”
stating that “these are insulting the North’s sincere
efforts to improve inter-Korean relations and a grave,
political provocation,” arguing for “doing away with the
inveterate bad habit of escalating confrontation and
stopping the act of pursuing system confrontation.”
|
| November 24 | - North Korea, in a KCNA commentary,
condemns that the U.S.’s raising of the North Korean human
rights issue (Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights
Issues Robert King’s remarks at the Seoul Dialogue for Human
Rights) is “an absurd attempt to overthrow the system in
North Korea stressing that Pyongyang will “sternly respond
to Washington’s scheme to overthrow North Korea and hold
fast to the socialist system in North Korea.”
|
| November 24 |
- North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun calls for the conclusion of
a peace treaty between North Korea and the U.S. by quoting
overseas institutions.
|
| November 25 | - North
Korea’s KCNA, in a bill of indictment (November 25),
expresses concern that “the largest refugee crisis in
history is sweeping the world,” citing the refugee situation
in Syria and Iraq, and urges that “the key to addressing the
refugee issue is to punish the U.S., the main culprit of
human rights crimes, with an iron hammer.”
|
| November 26 | -
A working-level contact for the talks
between authorities of South and North Korea is held
(Tongilgak on the North Korean side of Panmunjeom).
* Agreement on the first talks between authorities of South
and North Korea (vice-ministerial level) at the Gaeseong
Industrial Complex on December 11 and announcement of a
joint press release (November 27)
|
| November 26 | - North
Korea, in a KCNA commentary, denounces the ROK President’s
remarks on “the North Korean nuclear issue” on her overseas
trips (“We need to encourage the North to make the strategic
decision of giving up its nuclear program and come forward
to the path of change.”) as “creating an obstacle to
improving inter-Korean relations” and “an act of betrayal to
spoil the mood of dialogue in advance.”
|
| November 26 | - The
South's GIC Management Committee and the North’s Central
Special Zone Development Guidance General Bureau agree on
the rental fee of land for the Gaeseong Industrial
Complex.
|
| November 27 |
-
North Korea’s By Our Nation Itself slams
the South Korean military’s live-fire drills in the Yellow
Sea regarding the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island. *
North Korea calls for “stopping an act of aggravating
confrontation between the same people through the reckless
act of playing with fire” saying that “this inveterate bad
habit can be effective only when the situation on the Korean
Peninsula gets worse.”
|
| November 27 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland, in a statement, denounces
that Yonhap News’s November 26 report on the Institute for
National Security Strategy’s materials for an international
academic conference (Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror, etc.) as
“a political provocation” and “damage to the highest
dignity.”
|
| November 27 |
- North Korea’s KCNA and Rodong
Simnum △ Criticize the ROK President’s remarks on
“international cooperation on the North Korean nuclear
issue” at the G20 and APEC Summit, and △ Call on the South
to create a peaceful environment, including by “stopping
cooperation with the U.S. and joint military drills.”
|
| November 27 | - China welcomes the agreement to hold the
vice-ministerial level talks between South and North Korea
(in a regular briefing by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs).
|
| November
28 | -
North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic
missile (SLBM) test fails. * South Korean and U.S.
intelligence agencies detect signs of the North conducting
an underwater ejection test of a submarine-launched missile
in waters near Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province.
|
| November 28 |
- North Korea’s KCNA and Rodong Simnum denounce the event
related to the 5th anniversary of the shelling of Yeonpyeong
Island as “a provocation that undermines the atmosphere of
improving relations between South and North Korea.”
|
| November 30 | - The ROK government defines the North’s
development and test of a SLBM as an act tantamount to the
violation of the U.N. Security Council’s resolution (in a
regular briefing by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
National Defense).
|
| November
30 | - North Korea’s By Our Nation
Itself condemns the South Korean military for opening a
field maintenance center in the western area and conducting
a field tactical training exercise.
|
| November 30 | - Regarding
North Korea’s denunciation of the opening of a field
maintenance center in the western area and conducting a
field tactical training exercise, the ROK government calls
on the North to refrain from creating unnecessary tension
(in a regular briefing by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| November
30 | - North Korea’s Rodong
Sinmun, in a commentary, blasts the meeting of the South
Korean, U.S. and Japanese heads of the delegation to the
Six-Party Talks as “an anti-DPRK nuclear ruckus by the South
Korean authority and foreign powers.”
|
| November 30 | -
The Association of Inter-Korean Historians
gives a briefing on the achievements of the 2015 Survey
for the Joint Excavation of Manwoldae in Gaeseong.
* △ Excavated 19 building sites and 3,500 relics and △
Unearthed a piece of Goryeo-era metal type (presumed to have
been created before 1361) at a site 255m west of the
Sinbongmun gate site in the southern part of Manwoldae's
western sites.
|
| November
30 | - The heads of state of the
ROK and Russia reaffirm the principle of “no-tolerance of a
nuclear North Korea” and agree to expand the trilateral
cooperation project between South and North Korea and
Russia, including Rajin-Khasan logistics cooperation, at
their summit meeting.
|
