| March
1 | - While stressing that a
peaceful unification is a historic task that must be
achieved, the ROK President emphasizes a determined will to
respond to North Korean provocations, calling for the
denuclearization of North Korea (in her speech to mark the
March 1 Independence Movement).
|
| March 1 | - Pyongyang urges
Washington to change “its hostile policy toward the North”
while shifting the responsibility for a nuclear North Korea
to the U.S. (in a KCNA commentary).
|
| March 2 | - The North
Korean Human Rights Act is passed at the plenary session of
the National Assembly.
|
| March
2 | - The U.N. Security Council
unanimously adopts Resolution 2270 on North Korea
|
| March 2 |
- The U.S. announces that it will implement its own
sanctions on North Korea (U.S. Department of the Treasury
and Department of State).
|
| March 3 | - The ROK
President stresses that Seoul will make efforts in
cooperation with the international community to make
Pyongyang give up its reckless nuclear development and put
an end to the tyranny that oppresses freedom and human
rights in the North (at the 48th National Prayer
Breakfast).
|
| March 3 |
- North Korea fires six short-range
missiles from Wonsan into the East Sea.
|
| March 4 | - The ROK
President emphasizes that South Korea has to make North
Korea realize that “Unless it abandons its nuclear program,
the North Korean regime cannot survive” (at a joint
commissioning ceremony for graduating military cadets for
2016).
|
| March 4 | - Regarding the U.N. sanctions on North
Korea, the North threatens that “North Korea’s all-out
counteraction will include various means and methods such as
a physical response” (in a statement by a spokesperson for
the North Korean government).
|
| March 4 | - Regarding the
U.N. sanctions resolution on North Korea, Pyongyang stresses
its will to push ahead with the Byungjin Line, making it
clear that it will continue to take related measures and
actions (in a statement by a spokesperson for the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs).
|
| March
4 | - North Korea condemns the
passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act and the
Anti-terrorism Act at the National Assembly as a significant
provocation and an anti-national crime, threatening stern
and drastic retaliation (in a statement by a spokesperson
for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland).
|
| March 4 |
- Regarding the statement by a
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland (March 4), the South Korean
government calls on the North to actively improve the human
rights conditions and stop the slanderous accusations and
threats against the head of state (in a commentary by a
spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification).
|
| March 4 |
- North Korea denounces the ROK President’s speech to mark
the March 1 Independence Movement (in a KCNA
commentary).
|
| March 4 |
- The European Union expands sanctions
on North Korea in response to the North’s 4th nuclear test
and long-range missile launch (in a statement by the Council
of the European Union).
|
| March 5 | - North Korea
condemns the ROK President’s 3 years in office as a
breakdown of inter-Korean relations (in a KCNA
commentary).
|
| March 6 |
- North Korea argues that the Key
Resolve and Foal Eagle (KR/FE) exercises are “an act of war
in which the aggressive nature of the joint military
exercises is apparent” and that in the case of the outbreak
of war, the U.S. is to blame, shifting the responsibility to
Washington (in a statement by a spokesperson for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| March 6 | - North Korea
criticizes the ROK President by name, citing cases of
violations of women’s rights in South Korea (in an
investigation report by the DPRK Measure Council for Human
Rights in South Korea).
|
| March 7 | - South Korea and
the U.S. conduct the KR/FE exercises (March 7- April
30).
|
| March 7 | - Regarding “Key Resolve and Foal Eagle
16,” North Korea threatens that it will “launch an all-out
offensive in response to the joint military exercises and
realize the greatest desire of the Korean nation through a
sacred war of justice for reunification…by taking military
counteraction for a preemptive strike” (in a statement by
the National Defense Commission).
|
| March 7 | - Regarding the
statement by the National Defense Commission (March 7), the
South Korean government calls on the North to immediately
stop acting rashly which will lead to self-destruction,
warning that if Pyongyang provokes South Korea, Seoul will
respond with stern and merciless actions (the ROK Ministry
of National Defense’s position on the statement by the DPRK
National Defense Commission).
|
| March 7 | - Regarding the
U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution on North Korea,
the ROK President stresses cooperation with related member
countries to ensure the implementation of the resolution and
the bilateral and multilateral efforts to expand sanctions
on the North, arguing that there is a need to clearly show
that in the event of any North Korean provocation, the North
will pay the price (in a chief secretary meeting at
Cheongwadae).
|
| March 7 |
- Regarding the KR/FE exercises,
North Korea threatens to launch an all-out response and a
nuclear strike (in a statement by a spokesperson for the
Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the
Fatherland).
|
| March 7 |
- Regarding the U.N. sanctions
resolution on North Korea, North Korea maintains that it is
a nuclear state and the sanctions cannot break the North’s
will to develop nuclear weapons (in a KCNA commentary).
|
| March 7 | - Russia emphasizes that North Korea’s
statement that it will take “a pre-emptive nuclear strike”
in response to the ROK-U.S. joint military drill cannot be
tolerated (in a commentary in the name of the Press Office
of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| March 8 |
- The South Korean government announces its own sanctions
on North Korea (strengthening financial sanctions, shipping
controls, and import and export controls).
- South
Korea's sanctions on the North are as follows: 1) Blacklist
40 individuals and 30 organizations that are involved in the
North's nuke and missile programs, 2) Prohibit vessels that
have traveled to North Korea in the past 180 days from
entering South Korean waters, and 3) Include Kim Yong-chol,
the party secretary in charge of South Korean affairs and
former secretary Pak To-chun on the list of financial
sanctions targets.
|
| March
8 | - China states that it is open
to holding three-party, four-party or even five-party
contacts, urging each country to exercise restraint as
regards the escalating tension (at a press conference by
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi).
|
| March 9 | - Kim Jong-un
meets scientists and technicians in the field of nuclear
weapons research and provides field guidance on the work to
increase the nuclear arsenal (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 9 |
- Washington and Beijing discuss international and
regional issues such as the Sino-U.S. relations and the
current political situation on the Korean Peninsula (in a
telephone call between the Foreign Ministers of the U.S. and
China).
|
| March 9 | - Regarding the KR/FE exercises, North
Korea threatens that it may use the means of attack such as
nuclear weapons deployed for defense (in a KCNA
commentary).
|
| March 9 |
- Regarding the North’s claims that it
has miniaturized nuclear warheads, the South Korean
government assesses that Pyongyang has yet to possess a
miniaturized nuclear warhead, calling for the
denuclearization of North Korea (the Ministry of National
Defense’s position on the North’s miniaturized nuclear
warhead threat).
|
| March
9 | - Regarding the North’s
hacking into the smartphones of South Korean government
officials, the ROK government defines the incident as a
serious provocation directly associated with the security of
the nation and people, stressing that the South needs to
make thorough preparations for the North’s cyber
provocations and proactively deal with this issue (in a
briefing, “Message to the public regarding cyber security,”
by a spokesperson for Cheongwadae).
|
| March 10 | - North Korea
fires two short-range ballistic missiles from Sakkakmol,
South Hwanghae Province into the East Sea.
|
| March 10 | - In
response to the South Korean government’s announcement that
it will slap its own sanctions on the North, North Korea
declares that it will “nullify the agreements on all
economic cooperation and exchange projects between the South
and the North and liquidate all the assets of South Korean
companies and agencies in the North” (in a statement by a
spokesperson for the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland).
|
| March 10 | - Regarding
the statement by a spokesperson for the Committee for the
Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (March 10), the
South Korean government defines the liquidation of the South
Korean assets in the North as a provocative act that cannot
be tolerated, issuing a stern warning against the North (in
a statement by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Unification).
|
| March 10 |
- Seoul and Washington reaffirm
their position that the denuclearization of North Korea is a
top priority of both countries’ policy toward the North and
agree to strengthen pressure on Pyongyang by mobilizing
bilateral and multilateral means (in a meeting between chief
delegates to the Six-Party Talks from South Korea and the
U.S., Washington).
|
| March
11 | - The U.S. makes it clear
that the denuclearization of North Korea is a top priority
and stresses that countries have to focus on faithfully
implementing sanctions on the North, thus leading Pyongyang
to the negotiating table (the U.S. Ambassador to South
Korea, in a meeting with reporters accredited to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| March 11 | - Beijing and
Moscow stand firmly against the deployment of the THAAD
missile defense system to South Korea, stress the full
implementation of the U.N. sanctions on North Korea and the
North’s return to the dialogue table (the Foreign Ministers
of China and Russia, in a joint press conference).
|
| March 11 | - Kim Jong-un gives field guidance on the
ballistic missile launch drill of the Korean People's Army
(KPA) Strategic Rocket Forces and attends the KPA Tank
Crews’ Competition-2016 (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 12 | - North
Korea formally declares its military countermeasures,
stating that “The KPA will sternly counter the operation to
advance into Pyongyang conducted in the ROK-U.S. joint drill
with a preemptive operation to liberate Seoul” (in a
statement by the General Staff Department of the Korean
People’s Army).
|
| March
14 | - The ROK President says that
the U.N. sanctions on North Korea is laying the foundation
for an environment in which the North has no choice but to
change, stressing that what’s important is to ensure the
full implementation of these measures (at a dinner for the
heads of South Korea’s overseas diplomatic missions).
|
| March 14 | - Seoul and Beijing discuss how to
cooperate to faithfully implement the U.N. resolutions and
exchange their assessment of the political situation on the
Korean Peninsula such as the escalating North Korean nuclear
threat (in a telephone call between the Foreign Ministers of
South Korea and China).
|
| March 14 | - Beijing and
Tokyo agree to strive to ensure that the U.N. sanctions on
North Korea are fully implemented (in a telephone call
between the Foreign Ministers of China and Japan).
|
| March 15 | - The ROK President says that if the North
does not come forward to a path of change, it will walk down
a path of self-destruction, emphasizing that the North
Korean human rights issue cannot be neglected (at a cabinet
meeting).
|
| March 15 |
- The ROK Prime Minister stresses that
South Korea has to deter North Korean provocations through a
strong ROK-U.S. alliance (at a visit to the Korea-U.S.
Combined Forces Command).
|
| March 16 | - North Korea
sentences the detained American student Otto Warmbier, aged
21, to 15 years of hard labor.
|
| March 16 | - Regarding Kim
Jong-un’s order to conduct more nuclear tests and long-range
missile launches, the South Korean government, once again,
calls on the North to abandon its nuclear program and come
forward to a path of change (in a regular briefing by a
spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification).
|
| March 16 |
- Regarding “the operation to advance into the northern
inland area” carried out in the ROK-U.S. joint military
drill, North Korea threatens that “Once there is a slight
sign of the start of their special operation, the KPA will
promptly launch the battle for preemptive attack” (in a
special statement by the DPRK government, political parties
and organizations).
|
| March
16 | - The U.S. issues Executive
Order 13722 (“EO 13722”) imposing additional sanctions on
North Korea.
|
| March 16 |
- Germany condemns the human rights
situation in North Korea and calls for international
intervention to punish the leadership of the North and
improve the human rights conditions (in a joint statement by
the standing committee on human rights and humanitarian aid
of German Bundestag).
|
| March
18 | - North Korea fires two
medium-range ballistic missiles from Sukchun, South Pyongan
Province into the East Sea.
|
| March 18 | - Regarding the
North’s ballistic missile launch (March 18), the ROK
Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns that North Korea will walk
down a path of self-destruction if it insists on the path of
confrontation with the international community (in his
closing speech at the meeting of the heads of South Korea's
overseas diplomatic missions).
|
| March 18 | - Seoul and
Beijing share their respective assessment of the
provocations and threats from the North and discuss the
overall countermeasures that can lead North Korea to change
through the faithful implementation of the U.N. Security
Council resolutions (in a meeting between chief delegates to
the Six-Party Talks from South Korea and China,
Beijing).
|
| March 18 |
- The South Korean government chooses
6 universities to lead unification education.
|
| March 18 |
- Kim Jong-un declares the construction of Ryomyong Street
and presents the task of building a strong nation (in a KCNA
report).
|
| March 19 |
- Kim Jong-un provides field guidance
on the landing and anti-landing exercises carried out by the
Korean People’s Army (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 21 | - North
Korea fires five short-range projectiles from an area south
of Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea.
|
| March 21 | - Seoul and Washington share and discuss
their respective sanctions on North Korea and related
strategies, reaffirming their strong will to implement
sanctions on the North (in a ROK-U.S. high-level meeting on
sanctions on North Korea, Seoul).
|
| March 22 | - Kim Jong-un
gives field guidance on the test-firing of a new-type
large-caliber multiple launch rocket system and the October
3 Factory under KPA Navy Unit 597 which was changed into a
ship repair facility (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 22 | - North
Korea threatens a possible all-out war on the Korean
Peninsula, calling on the South to change its policy toward
the North (in a KCNA commentary).
|
| March 23 | - Regarding
the South Korean Air Force’s exercises of striking key North
Korean military facilities, North Korea threatens to
initiate military actions to kill the ROK President (in an
important report released by the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland).
|
| March 23 | - Regarding
the important report by the Committee for the Peaceful
Reunification of the Fatherland (March 23), the South Korean
government issues a strong warning on the North’s
condemnation and threat against the head of state (in a
commentary by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Unification).
|
| March 23 |
- The U.N. Human Rights Council
adopts a North Korean human rights resolution.
- Agrees to create an expert group that will be tasked
with exploring legal pathways to hold North Korea's
leadership accountable for crimes against humanity in the
country
|
| March 23 | - The U.S. issues a warning against
financial transactions with North Korea (the Treasury
Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Center).
|
| March 24 | - Kim Jong-un provides field guidance on
the February 11 Factory at the Ryongsong Machine Complex and
the ground test of a high-power solid-fuel rocket engine and
its cascade separation (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 24 |
- Regarding the important statement released by the
Supreme Command of the KPA (March 23), the ROK President
orders the government to strengthen the level of vigilance
across the country (Cheongwadae’s position on the repeated
threats from North Korea).
|
| March 24 | - The South
Korean government welcomes that a North Korean human rights
resolution was adopted by consensus at the 31st U.N. Human
Rights Council, urging the North to immediately take
measures to improve the human rights conditions of the North
Korean people (in a commentary by a spokesperson for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| March 24 | - The ROK
military decides to resolutely punish the North in the case
of provocation (in an emergency meeting of commanders).
|
| March 24 | - North Korea denounces and rejects all
sanctions resolutions against the DPRK including the U.N.
Security Council Resolution 2270 (in a statement by a
spokesperson for the Korean Jurists Committee).
|
| March 25 |
- Kim Jong-un gives field guidance on the large-scale
intensive strike drill of long-range artillery pieces of the
KPA frontline large combined units to destroy Cheongwadae
and ruling machines in Seoul (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 25 |
- The ROK President stresses that South Korea will not be
shaken by any threat from Pyongyang, warning the North that
its reckless provocations will lead the regime to a path of
self-destruction (in her speech to mark the first “West Sea
Defense Day”).
|
| March 26 |
- North Korea releases an “Appeal
to South Koreans” and slogans as regards the 20th general
elections in the South (the Information Bureau of the
Central Committee of the Anti-Imperialist National
Democratic Front).
|
| March
26 | - TNorth Korea slams the
South Korean government for marking the 6th anniversary of
the sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan and
delivering remarks at a memorial ceremony (in a statement by
a spokesperson for the inspection group of the National
Defense Commission).
|
| March
26 | - North Korea denounces the
ROK President by quoting a derogatory name used to criticize
the President on the Internet (in a bill of indictment by
the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation).
|
| March 26 | - North Korea demands the South Korean
government to make an official apology, threatening that if
the South does not respond to the request, the long-range
artillery forces will take merciless military actions (in an
ultimatum released by the long-range artillery forces of the
frontline large combined units of the Korean People’s
Army).
|
| March 28 | - Kim Jong-un provides field guidance at
the newly built Mirae Shop and Health Complex with his wife
Ri Sol-ju (in a KCNA report).
|
| March 29 | - Pyongyang
launches a short-range projectile from its coastal city of
Wonsan toward the Northeastern Yanggang Province.
|
| March 29 |
- North Korea declares that the DPRK has placed its army
into the state of its readiness to deliver a pre-emptive
nuclear strike in response to the U.S. hostile activities,
saying that “The current situation of the Korean Peninsula
faces the dilemma: a thermonuclear war or peace” (North
Korea’s Foreign Minister, in an interview with TASS News
Agency of Russia).
|
| March
30 | - The ROK President says that
the South will continue to pressure North Korea to end its
nuclear program, warns that the North would
"self-destruct" if it continues to test nuclear
weapons, and stresses that Seoul will make efforts to
achieve a peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula and
build up internal capability to achieve national unification
(in an interview with Bloomberg).
|
| March 30 | - North Korea
holds the 9th plenary meeting of the 13th Presidium of the
Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA).
- Adopts a decree of
the Presidium of the SPA “On the Juche 105 (2016) state
budget of the DPRK” at the meeting
|
| March 30 | - North Korea
argues that it will “hold up the Byungjin line even higher
and continue to whet the nuclear treasured sword for
self-defense” under the leadership of Kim Jong-un on the
occasion of marking the 3rd anniversary of the Byungjin line
proposal (in a bulletin by the DPRK Institute for Research
into National Reunification).
|
| March 30 | - North Korea
criticizes the remarks made by the chairman of the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff at a congressional hearing on March 17
(in a KCNA commentary).
|
| March 31 | - he ROK
President stresses that the denuclearization of the North is
a crucial task not only for the Korean Peninsula and
Northeast Asia but also for promoting global nuclear
security, calling on the international community to fully
implement the U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution and
deliver a resolute, unified message (at a working dinner
during the 4th Nuclear Security Summit).
|
| March 31 | - Seoul
and Washington reaffirm the faithful implementation of
sanctions on North Korea to lead the North to come forward
to a path of change (in a summit meeting between the heads
of state of South Korea and the U.S.).
|
| March 31 | - Seoul,
Washington, and Tokyo reaffirm their cooperation to
implement sanctions on Pyongyang (in a joint press statement
after the summit meeting between the heads of state of South
Korea, the U.S., and Japan).
|
| March 31 | - Seoul and Tokyo
share their respective perception of the security situation
on the Korean Peninsula caused by the North’s nuclear test
and discuss cooperation plans to pressure North Korea
following the adoption of the most effective and powerful
U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution (in a summit
meeting between the heads of state of South Korea and
Japan).
|
| March 31 | - Seoul and Beijing have in-depth
discussions on how to develop Sino-South Korean relations as
well as cooperation plans to address North Korea and North
Korean nuclear issues (in a summit meeting between the heads
of state of South Korea and China).
|
| March 31 | - Washington
and Beijing exchange opinions on the North Korean nuclear
issue and reaffirm their political will to denuclearize the
Korean Peninsula (in a summit meeting between the heads of
state of the U.S. and China).
|
| March 31 | - North Korea
discharges a large amount of radio waves in the northern
part of the Military Demarcation Line to jam GPS signals in
the South.
|
| March 31 |
- The South Korean government
issues a warning on GPS signal disruptions in Seoul,
Incheon, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces (the Ministry of
Science, ICT and Future Planning).
|
| March 31 | - North Korea
shifts the responsibility for the current political
situation to the U.S., threatening to mete out merciless
punishment by mobilizing all possible means including
nuclear weapons if the U.S. tries to violate the sovereignty
of North Korea (in a statement by a spokesperson for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
