| January
1 | - North Korea claims that its
preparations for the test-firing of an intercontinental
ballistic missile (ICBM) have reached the final stage and
criticizes ROK President Park by name (in Kim Jong Un’s New
Year’s Speech).
|
| January
1 | - Regarding the North’s claim
that its preparations for the test-firing of an ICBM have
reached the final stage (January 1), the ROK government
strongly condemns and urges North Korea to move toward
denuclearization in good faith (in a commentary on Kim Jong
Un’s New Year’s Speech by a spokesperson for the Ministry of
Unification).
|
| January 4 |
- The ministries involved in
foreign affairs and security present the annual policy
reports for 2017 at a joint reporting session.
- The
Ministry of Unification’s reporting addresses how to achieve
“the denuclearization of North Korea and the establishment
of a foundation for peaceful unification by inducing the
North to change in the right direction.”
|
| January 8 | - North
Korea threatens that the ICBM will be launched anytime and
anywhere determined by the supreme headquarters of the DPRK
(in a Q&A session with KCNA reporters by a spokesperson
for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
|
| January 11 | - The Center
for North Korean Human Rights Records holds the first
advisory meeting after an appointment ceremony for the
Advisory Group.
- The Advisory Group consists of
academics, legal professionals, human rights activists for
North Korea, research designers, and psychotherapists.
|
| January 11 | - North Korea reaffirms its position that
the ICBM will be launched anytime and anywhere determined by
the supreme headquarters of the DPRK (in an interview with
Ria Novosti by North Korean Ambassador to Russia Kim Hyung
Jun).
|
| January 12 | - North Korea shifts the responsibility
for the strain in inter-Korean relations to the ROK
government (in a statement by a spokesperson for the Korean
Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation).
|
| January 13 |
- The ROK government expresses regret over the statement
by a spokesperson for the Korean Council for Reconciliation
and Cooperation (January 12) (in a regular briefing by a
spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification).
|
| January 17 |
- cting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn asks
the diplomats to work with the international community to
force North Korea to change its calculus through pressure
and sanctions on the North (at a luncheon meeting with the
representatives of the diplomatic corps in South Korea, in
Seoul).
|
| January 20 |
- The ROK, the US, and Japan carry out
anti-missile drills to build up capabilities to detect and
track North Korea’s ballistic missiles on January
20-22.
|
| January 22 |
- The ROK and the US conduct a first
run of the high-level channel between the Blue House and the
White House and confirm that both sides share the perception
that addressing the North Korean nuclear issue is an urgent
task (in a telephone call between National Security Office
chief Kim Kwan-jin and National Security Advisor Michael
Flynn).
|
| January 23 |
- The Unification Minister emphasizes
that the denuclearization of North Korea should be addressed
from the perspective of peaceful unification (in a
contribution to Seoul Shinmun).
|
| January 25 | - North Korea
claims that it can launch an ICBM anytime and anywhere and
reaffirms the North Korean authorities’ determination to
pursue its nuclear and missile program and to test-fire
missiles (in an interview with NBC News by Choe Kang Il, the
deputy director general for North American affairs at North
Korea's Foreign Ministry).
|
| January 30 | - Seoul and
Washington discuss ways to strengthen the ROK-US alliance
and resolve the North Korean nuclear issue (in a telephone
call between acting President and Prime Minister Hwang
Kyo-ahn and US President Donald Trump).
|
