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Birth of Kim Il Song
This is the birth of Kim Il Song who will become the communist leader of NK -
Birth of Kim Jong Il
Kim Il Song's eldest son is born on Mount Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean peninsula, while Soviet documents indicate he was more likely born in a Siberian village. -
Division of the Korean Peninsula
Japan lost the Korean peninsula after its occupation of the peninsula in 1911. Two US commanders divide the peninsula literally in half - leaving Seoul in the South and Pyongyang in the North. -
Un free elections in NK and SK established
The UN established free elections to unify Korea. The elections never take place. Communist Russia influences NK and the US influences SK. -
DPRK formed
Kim Jong Il becomes the communist leader in NK and Syngman Rhee is the deomcratic leader in SK. -
NK invades SK - begins the Korean War
NK forces invade SK beginning the Korean War. The NK forces nearly reach Pusan on the lower part of the Korean Peninsula. -
Armistice signed
The war ends when a truce is signed by a representative of the US-backed UN forces, and a representative of North Korea and allied Chinese forces. South Korea was not a signatory. There is no formal peace treaty, meaning the two countries remain technically at war. The Korean war cost 2 million lives. Korean is left divided with the DMZ separating the two countires. The DMZ becomes one of the most fortified borders in the world. -
Assasination attempt against SK leader
North Korean commandos launch a failed assassination attempt on the then president of South Korea, Park Chung-hee in the Blue House. Thirty-one North Korean commandos storm South Korea's presidential Blue House in failed assassination attempt against
President Park Chung-hee. Seven South Koreans are killed. -
NK captures US vessel - USS Pueblo off the coast of NK
The U.S. intelligence-gathering ship Pueblo is seized by North Korean naval vessels and charged with spying and violating North Korean territorial waters. Negotiations to free the 83-man crew of the U.S. ship dragged on for nearly a year, damaging the credibility of and confidence in the foreign policy of President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. The capture of the ship and internment of its crew by North Korea was loudly protested by the Johnson administration. The U.S. government vehement -
NK hijacks SK airliner
A North Korean spy hijacks and reroutes a South Korean airliner to North Korea and takes hostages. Thirty-nine hostages are freed after more than two months. -
Another assasination attempt by NK
There is another assassination attempt on Park Chung-hee, by a North Korean agent in Seoul. Park survives, but the first lady is killed. -
NK - another assasination attempt on SK leader
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. -
NK blows up SK airliner in mid-air
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. -
NK and SK become members of the Untied Nations
NK and SK join the UN -
Kim Il Song dies - Kim Jong Il takes over as leader
Kim Il Sung dies of a heart attack and Kim Jong Il inherits power. -
NK first underground nuclear test
An international outcry follows North Korea's first nuclear test, and the UN sets up a series of sanctions. -
NK conducts second underground nuclear test
North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, defying international warnings and dramatically raising the stakes in a global effort to get the recalcitrant Communist state to give up its nuclear weapons program. -
NK sinks the SK ship the Chenoan
Explosion sinks South Korean naval ship near Koreas' western maritime border, killing 46 sailors. An international investigation later finds North Korea to be responsible for the sinking. An investigation conducted by an international team of experts from South Korea, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Sweden concluded that Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo launched by a North Korean Yeono class miniature submarine. -
NK military drill
North Korea shoots dozens of rounds of artillery onto a populated South Korean island near their disputed western border, prompting South Korea to return fire and scramble fighter jets. -
Death of the Dear Leader
Kim Jong Il dies of a heart attack on December 19 and his son, Kim Jong Un, inherits control of the heriditary communist government in NK.
