| January
1 | - Kim Jong-un, in his New
Year’s Speech, repeats existing positions that “We will make
strenuous efforts to develop inter-Korean talks and improve
bilateral relations, and we will also have an open-minded
discussion on the reunification issue with anyone who is
truly desirous of national reunification,” while urging the
South to “desist from any act that will mar the atmosphere
of dialogue.”
|
| January 1 |
- The North’s Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, in a Q&A session with a KCNA reporter,
condemns the South Korea-Japan agreement on comfort women as
a product of political bargaining and calls for a thorough
apology and compensation for all the victims.
|
| January 4 |
- Regarding Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s Speech, a
spokesperson for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific
Affairs, in a commentary, stresses that the U.S. will judge
North Korea by action, not by rhetoric (“We will make
strenuous efforts to develop inter-Korean talks and improve
bilateral relations”).
|
| January 5 | -
The ROK President emphasizes her will to
normalize inter-Korean relations at the cabinet
meeting * “As Pyongyang expresses its will to fulfill
the August 25 Agreement, I ask for related officials to make
efforts to normalize inter-Korean relations such as
expanding private channels to restore a sense of unity
between South and North Korea and addressing the separated
family issue.”
|
| January
5 | - North Korea, in a KCNA
commentary, insists on the legitimacy of possessing nuclear
weapons, citing the U.S.’s plan to drop an atomic bomb on
North Korea in the 1950s.
|
| January 6 | - KCNA publishes
an article entitled “Appeal to Usher in a New Era of
Independent Reunification.”
|
| January 6 | - North Korea
conducts its 4th nuclear test some 49 kilometers north of
Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province.
|
| January 6 | -
January 6. The ROK government issues a
statement regarding the North’s 4th nuclear test.*
△“Denounce the North’s 4th nuclear test,”△“Demand the
complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of the
North’s nuclear weapons,” and △“Take all possible actions
including upholding the U.N. Security Council’s additional
sanctions”
|
| January 6 |
- The U.S. criticizes that “North
Korea’s H-bomb test is a flagrant violation of United
Nations Security Council resolutions (in a commentary by the
spokesperson for the White House National Security
Council).
|
| January 6 |
- Japan stresses that “North Korea’s
nuclear test is a significant threat to the security of
Japan and cannot be tolerated,” highlighting “the
coordinated response of South Korea, the U.S., China, and
Russia including the U.N. Security Council’s response” (in a
statement by Prime Minister Abe).
|
| January 6 | - China, in
its official statement regarding the North’s 4th nuclear
test, expresses “determined opposition” to Pyongyang’s
H-bomb test, stressing that “Beijing strongly urges North
Korea to fulfill its promise of denuclearization and stop
any act that will worsen the situation” (in a regular
briefing by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs).
|
| January 6 |
- Russia expresses grave concern about
the news that North Korea carried out the H-bomb test (in a
statement by the Russian presidential press secretary).
|
| January 6 | - The Defense Ministers of the ROK and the
U.S. define “the North’s nuclear test as a significant
provocation” and discuss a plan to strengthen coordination
between the two countries.
|
| January 6 | - U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon strongly criticizes the North’s H-bomb
test and issues a statement calling on Pyongyang to stop its
provocative acts.
|
| January
7 | - The Foreign Ministers of the
ROK and the U.S. define “the North’s nuclear test as a
challenge to the international community that cannot be
tolerated” and discuss a plan to strengthen coordination to
pass a U.N. Security Council resolution.
|
| January 7 | - The
U.S. Secretary of State issues a statement condemning North
Korea’s H-bomb test as “a very provocative act that poses a
significant threat to international peace and
security.”
|
| January 7 |
-
The U.N. Security Council holds an
emergency session and issues a press statement. *
Statement by Uruguay's UN Ambassador, current president of
the Security Council, △“North Korea’s nuclear test is a
clear violation of Security Council resolutions” and △“A
clear threat to international peace and security.”
|
| January 7 | - The ROK government resumes its
loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts.
|
| January 7 | - A
spokesperson for the Committee on Measures for Compensation
to Former Korean Comfort Women for the Japanese Army and the
Victims of Forcible Drafting denounces the “South
Korea-Japan agreement on comfort women.”
|
| January 7 | - The
heads of state of the ROK and Japan discuss response
measures to the North Korean nuclear issue in a telephone
conversation.
|
| January 7 |
- The Defense Ministers of the ROK
and the U.S. issue a joint statement with the position that
“North Korea’s nuclear test is a clear violation of
international laws, both sides reaffirm the U.S.’s extended
deterrence commitment to South Korea, and the North should
pay a price for the provocation.”
|
| January 7 | - The heads
of state of the ROK and the U.S. agree to closely cooperate
to speedily adopt a Security Council resolution imposing
tough sanctions on North Korea.
|
| January 8 | - South Korea
fully resumes its loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts.
|
| January 8 | - A resolution to criticize the North’s
nuclear test passes the plenary session of the National
Assembly.
|
| January 8 |
- North Korea begins the loudspeaker
propaganda broadcasts.
|
| January 8 | - Japan’s
Defense Minister “sternly denounces the North’s nuclear
test,” saying that it is “a violation of U.N. Security
Council resolutions.”
|
| January 8 | - The Foreign
Ministers of the ROK and China have a telephone
conversation.
|
| January 8 |
- Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo hold
a video conference at the deputy minister level to share
information about North Korea.
|
| January 8 | - The Defense
Ministers of the ROK and Japan have a telephone conversation
to discuss “response measures to the North’s nuclear
test.”
|
| January 8 | - The Democratic Women's Union of Korea
(DWUK) condemns the South Korean government’s “agreement on
comfort women” with Japan as “a pro-Japanese act of
treachery covering up Japan's hideous ***ual slavery.”
|
| January 9 | - North Korea, in a KCNA commentary,
claims the legitimacy of its H-bomb test, saying that “The
U.S. seeks to start a nuclear war by continuously carrying
out nuclear war drills, and so North Korea conducted its
first H-bomb test, a higher stage of the development of
nuclear force, as a self-defense measure against the
ever-growing nuclear threat and blackmail by the U.S.-led
hostile forces.”
|
| January
10 | - The U.S. flies a B-52
long-range bomber over South Korea.
|
| January 12 | - The U.S.
House of Representatives passes a bill of sanctions on North
Korea (H.R.757) (local time).
|
| January 12 | - North Korea,
in a KCNA commentary, argues that the DPRK has proudly
joined the advanced ranks of nuclear weapons states with its
possession of an H-bomb, posing the threat of a possible
attack on U.S. soil.
|
| January
12 | - Regarding the international
community's sanctions in the wake of the North's 4th nuclear
test, Kim Jong-un calls for more efforts to “increase the
quality and quantity of the country's nuclear force so as to
be capable of making nuclear strikes on the U.S.” (at the
awarding ceremony for nuclear scientists involved in the
recent successful H-bomb test).
|
| January 13 | -
President Park’s Statement to the Nation
and Press Conference * (Major Contents) △Face an
emergency situation in which both security and the economy
are in crisis at the same time, △ Expect China to play a
more active role (in imposing sanctions on North Korea), △
Include new measures such as finance and trade in a U.N.
Security Council resolution, and △ Review the THAAD
deployment in line with South Korea’s security and national
interests and bring about a nuclear-free world starting with
the Korean Peninsula
|
| January
13 | - The ROK, the U.S., and
Japan hold a meeting of chief delegates for the Six-Party
Talks (Seoul).
|
| January
13 | - The White House Press
Office issues a statement indicating that the heads of state
of the U.S. and Russia had a telephone conversation and
agreed on the need for the international community’s strong
and united response against North Korea’s 4th nuclear
test.
|
| January 13 | - The Foreign Ministers of the ROK and
Russia discuss North Korea’s 4th nuclear test in a telephone
conversation.
|
| January 13 |
- The deputy national security
adviser for strategic communication for U.S. President
Barack Obama, in a press conference, confirms that regarding
President Obama’s lack of mention of the North Korean issues
in his State of the Union Address, the intention was to snub
the North Korean leader and that President Obama gives the
North Korean nuclear issue a huge priority.
|
| January 13 | - A
North Korean drone flies close to the Dorasan Observatory,
located on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line
(MDL).
|
| January 14 |
- ROK and Chinese chief delegates for
the Six-Party Talks hold a meeting (Beijing).
|
| January 14 |
- The Korean Jurists Committee of North Korea releases a
white paper, arguing that “The U.S. and North Korea should
nullify the armistice agreement and sign a peace treaty as
soon as possible” while condemning the U.S.’s side-stepping
of the conclusion of a peace treaty with the DPRK as an
“international illegal act.”
|
| January 14 | - North Korea
sends a letter of protest regarding the cancellation of the
invitation of Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong to the World
Economic Forum (from North Korea’s permanent representative
to the U.N. office to the Managing Director of the WEF
Managing Board).
|
| January
14 | - The ROK government
announces the temporary suspension of its financial support
for the Rajin-Hasan logistics project in the wake of the
North’s 4th nuclear test.
|
| January 15 | - The North’s
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a commentary, justifies
the H-bomb test and reacts against such moves as introducing
the means for a strategic nuclear strike into the South and
adopting a U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on North
Korea.
|
| January 16 |
- The Republic of Korea, the United
States, and Japan agree that substantial sanctions should be
imposed on North Korea urgently through a “thorough and
comprehensive response” and jointly call on China to join
the sanctions on Pyongyang at the second vice foreign
ministerial meeting (Tokyo).
|
| January 19 | - South Korean
and Russian chief delegates for the Six-Party Talks hold a
meeting (Moscow).
|
| January
19 | - Regarding its 4th nuclear
test, North Korea, in a Rodong Sinmum commentary, maintains
that “North Korea’s position has changed at a stroke,”
saying that “A country which is not big and has suffered the
harshest ordeal has the strongest power of all
mankind.”
|
| January 20 |
- Although the situation on the Korean
Peninsula is grave in the wake of the North’s 4th nuclear
test, the ROK government makes it clear that it will
continue to make efforts to resolve the separated family
issue (in a regular briefing by the Unification Ministry
spokesperson).
|
| January 20 |
- North Korea, in an interview with
a reporter from Pyongyang Broadcasting Station, justifies
its hydrogen bomb test and urges the U.S. to stop its
hostile policy against the North.
|
| January 21 | - The ROK
President stresses “carrying out all effective means for
sanctions on North Korea” at the 49th Central Integrated
Defense Meeting.
|
| January
21 | - ROK and Chinese chief
delegates for the Six-Party Talks discuss response measures
to the North’s nuclear test (Beijing).
|
| January 22 | - The
Ministries of Unification, Foreign Affairs, and National
Defense jointly present their policy report on security and
unification preparation to President Park.
- (Theme)
Thorough preparation for unification based on strong foreign
and security policy
- (Major Strategies) △ Launch an
all-out response to the threat of provocation by North
Korea, △ Take a holistic approach to the North Korean
nuclear and other North Korea issues, △ Make good use of
changes in the foreign and security environment proactively
and strategically, and △ Continue proper preparation for
unification along with the Korean people and the
international community.
|
| January 22 | - The heads of
state of Japan and Russia have a telephone conversation and
agree to band together at the U.N. Security Council
regarding North Korea’s 4th nuclear test.
|
| January 23 | -
A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in
Seoul expresses support for President Park’s proposal to
hold five-party talks. * △ The U.S. supports
President Park’s call for five-party talks. △ Washington
considers that cooperating with other parties would be a
useful step in its ongoing efforts to denuclearize the
Korean Peninsula through credible and authentic
negotiations.
|
| January 25 |
-
The Foreign Ministers of the ROK and
Ukraine have a telephone conversation. * △ South
Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se calls on Ukraine, as a
Security Council member, to play an active role in adopting
a resolution imposing “strong and effective” sanctions on
North Korea. △ Ukraine’s Foreign Minister responds that the
country will closely cooperate in the process of adopting a
U.N. Security Council resolution, saying that “Ukraine fully
supports the ROK’s position.”
|
| January 25 | - The National
Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea votes for
extending the working period of the Special Committee on
North Korean Human Rights by another year.
|
| January 25 | - U.S.
Pacific commander Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr. stresses in an
interview with Yonhap News Agency that “Whether to deploy a
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) unit in the
South is an alliance decision that should be made jointly by
the two allies, instead of a unilateral decision.”
|
| January 26 | - Regarding the North’s nuclear test, the
Unification Minister emphasizes in a meeting with the
director of the U.S. Brookings Institution that the ROK and
the international community should closely cooperate, and
through sanctions, clearly let North Korea know that it was
wrong and it should not repeat such misbehavior.
|
| January 26 |
- Regarding President Park’s remarks on five-party talks,
Russia’s Foreign Minister stresses that the only way to
address the North Korean nuclear issue lies in the Six-Party
Talks.
|
| January 27 |
- During his visit to China, U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry holds a meeting with his
Chinese counterpart regarding North Korea’s 4th nuclear
test.
|
| January 27 | - The U.S. expresses support for President
Park’s remarks on five-party talks (in a regular briefing by
the deputy spokesperson for the U.S. Department of
State).
|
| January 27 |
- The Mid-Level Political Meeting of
the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is held and a
consensus is formed on the need for a response to the North
Korean nuclear issue at the level of PSI.
|
| January 27 | - U.S.
Defense Department Spokesperson Urban, in a Yonhap News
commentary, urges North Korea to “refrain from actions and
rhetoric that threaten regional peace and security and focus
instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its
international commitments and obligations” regarding the
North’s recent long-range missile launches.
|
| January 27 | - On the
occasion of the reopening ceremony of the Incheon
Unification Hall, the Vice Minister of Unification
criticizes North Korea’s Byungjin Line of simultaneously
developing the economy and nuclear weapons and calls on the
North to make the right choice.
|
| January 28 | -
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
unanimously passes a strong sanctions bill on North Korea,
demonstrating bipartisan support for a tough response to
the North’s nuclear test. * △ Impose penalties
against those engaging in or facilitating North Korea’s
nuclear weapons program and human rights violations, △
Sanction those engaging in activities that undermine cyber
security, △ Include a secondary boycott clause approving
sanctions on third parties that trade with North Korea, and
△ Ban imports of North Korean minerals as a means to block
funds
|
| January 28 | - The U.S. and Chinese chief delegates for
the Six-Party Talks hold a closed meeting to discuss
sanctions on North Korea (January 28-29, Beijing).
|
| January 28 | - The Japanese government issues an “order
of destructive measures” to the Self-Defense Forces if a
North Korean missile enters the air space of Japan.
|
| January 29 | - The ROK government hopes for the early
passage of a North Korean human rights act (in a regular
briefing by the Unification Ministry spokesperson).
|
| January 29 | - The Foreign Ministers of the ROK and the
U.S. discuss future countermeasures regarding the North
Korean nuclear issue and the possibility of North Korea’s
additional provocations in a telephone conversation.
|
| January 29 | - The Foreign Ministers of the U.S. and
Japan discuss North Korea’s moves to prepare for a ballistic
missile launch in a telephone conversation.
|
| January 29 | - A
Singapore court fines Chinpo Shipping Company for illegally
transferring financial assets or resources to North
Korea.
|
| January 29 |
- Regarding the ROK-U.S. THAAD
deployment issue, China says that “We hope that the relevant
country (South Korea) will carefully handle related issues”
(in a regular briefing by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs).
|
| January
29 | - Japan deploys ground-to-air
Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) launchers in Ichigaya,
Tokyo, near the Defense Ministry’s headquarters in
preparation for North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile
launch.
|
| January 30 |
- The Global Times, China’s
state-owned newspaper, heavily criticizes North Korea’s
nuclear and missile development.
|
