US condemns attacks

The US yesterday condemned North Korea’s artillery attack against the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong and warned it to cease fire.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called on North Korea to “to halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the armistice agreement”, the 1953 pact that ended the Korean War.

North Korea fired barrages of artillery onto a South Korean island near their disputed western border , setting buildings ablaze and killing at least one marine after warning the South to halt military drills in the area.

Mr Gibbs said the White House “is in close and continuing contact” with the South Korean government.

“The United States is firmly committed to the defence of our ally, the Republic of Korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability,” he said.

The attack came amid high tension over North Korea’s claim that it has a new uranium enrichment facility and just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his heir apparent.

Yesterday the State Department said it was studying the evidence a group of visiting American scientists used to conclude the North was building the enrichment facility, which presumably could be used to produce fuel for nuclear weapons.

Timeline

July 27, 1953

The war ends when North and South Korea sign a truce – but there is no formal peace treaty, meaning the two countries remain technically at war. The Korean war cost two million lives.

January 1968

North Korean commandos launch a failed assassination attempt on the then president of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.

August 15, 1974

There is another assassination attempt on Park Chung-hee, by a North Korean agent in Seoul. Park survives, but the first lady is killed.

October 9, 1983

North Korean agents target the venue of a visit by South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan to Burma, killing more than 20 people including four South Korean Cabinet ministers. The President escapes.

November 29, 1987

North Korea blows up a South Korean civilian airliner, killing 115 people. The US decides to include the North on its list of countries that support terrorism.

1991

North and South Korea become members of the UN.

September 1996

A North Korean submarine lands commandos on the South Korean coast.

June 2000

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung meet in Pyongyang.

January 2002

The then US President, George Bush, makes his “axis of evil” speech, which links North Korea with Iran and Iraq.

February 2005

North Korea claims to have built nuclear weapons.

July 2006

North Korea test-fires medium- and long-range missiles.

October 2006

An international outcry follows North Korea’s first nuclear test, and the UN sets up a series of sanctions.

November 2007

The Prime Ministers of the two Koreas meet for the first time in 15 years.

March-May 2008

North Korea test-fires short missiles.

July 2008

A North Korean soldier shoots a South Korean tourist dead in the Mount Kumgang resort.

April 2009

North Korea launches a long-range rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Criticism from the UN security council prompts Kim Jong-il to walk out of talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear programme.

May 2009

North Korea announces it has successfully conducted a second nuclear test, sparking an emergency meeting of the UN security council.

It also withdraws from the 1953 armistice that ended the war between the two Koreas.

November 2009

Shots are exchanged near the Yellow Sea border for the first time in seven years.

January 2010

North Korea fires artillery near its disputed maritime border with South Korea. South Korea returns fire, but no one is injured.

March 2010

The South Korean warship Cheonan sinks after an unexplained explosion; 46 sailors die.

A later investigation suggests the boat was sunk by a torpedo launched from a North Korean submarine.

September 2010

Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s youngest son, gains high-powered political and military posts, fuelling speculation that he will be his father’s successor.

October 2010

North and South Korea exchange shots across the border.

November 2010

North Korea gives a US scientist a tour of a uranium plant, sparking alarm at the sophistication of its nuclear technology.

November 23

The North fires rounds of artillery on to an inhabited South Korean border island. South Korea scrambles its fighter jets and returns fire, saying two of its marines have been killed.