| December 1 | - Seoul and
Washington assess their response to the threat posed by
North Korean submarines and discuss ways to improve ROK-U.S.
combat capability (in a meeting of the ROK-U.S. ASW
(Anti-Submarine Warfare) Working Group, on December
1-2).
|
| December 1 | - Kim Jong Un provides field guidance for
the artillery drill of the KPA targeting Baengnyeong Island,
Yeonpyeong Island, and Seoul (in the coastal area in Wonsan,
Kangwon Province).
|
| December
1 | - North Korea condemns the
UNSC’s adoption of Resolution 2321 (November 30) (in a
statement by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs).
|
| December 2 |
- The ROK government announces
unilateral sanctions on North Korea. 1)
Expanding the number of entities and individuals subject
to sanctions (35 entities and 36 individuals) 2) Toughening maritime sanctions (prohibiting
any ships that have traveled to the North within the past
one year, an extension from the previous 180 days, from
entering South Korean ports) 3)
Increasing surveillance on importation of North Korean
products (blocking textiles manufactured in the North and
compiling a submarine watch-list to counter the North's
SLBM capabilities, etc.) 4)
Prohibiting blacklisted individuals from entering the
South (prohibiting the entry of foreigners subject to the
ROK government’s unilateral sanctions and prohibiting the
re-entry of foreign missile and nuclear experts staying in
the South if their visits to North Korea were deemed to
threaten South Korean national interests) *
December 2. The U.S. imposes unilateral sanctions on 7
individuals and 16 entities that are involved with the
North’s nuclear and missile development (the Office of
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the
Treasury). Japan prepares a proposal to strengthen its own
sanctions against North Korea at the cabinet meeting on the
abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea (in a regular
briefing by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga).
|
| December 2 | - North Korea denounces the UNSC’s
adoption of Resolution 2321 (November 30) (in a statement by
the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee).
|
| December 5 | - The
ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs repeatedly emphasizes the
seriousness of the North Korean nuclear issue to the
international community (in his opening speech at the IAEA
International Conference on Nuclear Security).
|
| December 7 |
- The Unification Minister emphasizes that the government
has continued and will continue the Trust-Building Process
on the Korean Peninsula (in a special lecture at the joint
meeting of the Steering and Standing Committees of the
National Unification Advisory Council).
|
| December 7 | - The UN
Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) calls
for the resolution of the separated family issue on the
Korean Peninsula (in a report published).
|
| December 8 | - The
ROK government compiles a watch-list of 60 submarine
component materials to prevent North Korea from developing
submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) (in a press
release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| December 9 |
- The Unification Minister emphasizes that the efforts to
achieve peace and unification should continue (in a policy
briefing session for foreign ambassadors to the Republic of
Korea).
|
| December 9 |
- Seoul and Beijing agree to
faithfully fulfill the UNSC’s new resolution on North Korea
regarding the North Korean nuclear issue (in a meeting
between the chief delegates to the Six-Party Talks from the
ROK and China, in Beijing).
|
| December 9 | - The UN
Security Council discusses the North Korean human rights
situation as an official agenda.
|
| December 9 | - North Korea
rejects the OHCHR’s report calling for the speedy resolution
of the separated family issue (December 7) and shifts the
responsibility for the suspension in family reunions to the
South, arguing that the South kidnapped North Korean
restaurant workers in China (in a Q&A session with KCNA
reporters by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs).
|
| December 10 |
- The ROK government declares that
the meeting of the UN Security Council (December 9) laid the
foundation for regular discussions on the North Korean human
rights issue at the UNSC and welcomes the results (in a
commentary by a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs).
|
| December 11 |
- Kim Jong Un provides field
guidance for the combat drill of the special operation
battalion of KPA Unit 525 (in a report by the KCNA).
|
| December 11 | - The ROK Navy and Coast Guard rescue
North Korean ships in Korea’s exclusive economic zone
(December 11-12).
|
| December
12 | - The ROK government strongly
denounces the North’s combat drill targeting Cheongwadae (in
a regular briefing by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Unification).
|
| December 13 |
-
The ROK government conducts simulation
training across agencies in response to the North’s GPS
jamming. *Ministry of Science, ICT and Future
Planning; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport;
Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, etc.
|
| December 13 |
- Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo agree to further strengthen
cooperation to faithfully fulfill UNSC Resolution 2321 and
to toughen their unilateral sanctions on North Korea (in a
joint press conference on the occasion of a meeting between
the chief delegates to the Six-Party Talks from the ROK, the
U.S., and Japan).
|
| December
13 | - North Korea asserts that
the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is a product of
the U.S.’s hostile policy toward the North (in an urgent
press conference by North Korea’s Permanent Representative
to the U.N.).
|
| December
15 | - The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) strongly condemns North Korea’s nuclear
and missile programs and provocative acts (in a statement
adopted at a special meeting on the North Korean nuclear
issue held by the North Atlantic Council).
|
| December 18 | - The
Unification Minister emphasizes that the government will
strive to denuclearize the North while maintaining its
policy toward North Korea (in a press conference with
correspondents accredited to the Ministry).
|
| December 19 | - The
ROK government repatriates eight North Korean fishermen and
sends two ships back to the North in open waters on the
Northern Limit Line in the East Sea.
|
| December 19 | - The UN
General Assembly adopts a resolution recommending that the
North Korean human rights situation be referred to the
International Criminal Court and that those who are
responsible for human rights abuses be punished.
|
| December 20 |
- Seoul and Washington discuss ways to bolster their
military deterrence against and diplomatic pressure and
sanctions on North Korea (at the first meeting of the
Korea-U.S. Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation
Group, Washington D.C.).
|
| December 23 | - Kim Jong Un
explains the international political situation, including
the situation in Northeast Asia and in South Korea, and
emphasizes the justification for the Byungjin line (in his
speech at the opening ceremony of the First Conference of
Chairpersons of the Primary Committees of the Workers' Party
of Korea (WPK))
|
| December
26 | - The ROK military installs
20 new stationary loudspeakers along the inter-Korean
border.
|
| December 27 |
- North Korea denounces the first
meeting of the Korea-U.S. Extended Deterrence Strategy and
Consultation Group (December 20) as a provocative move and
emphasizes that it will “hold up the Byungjin line and
strengthen its nuclear strike force in quality and in
quantity” (in a Q&A session with KCNA reporters by a
spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
