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CHRONOLOGY-Nuclear diplomacy with North Korea since 1985
12 Sep 2004 07:55:26 GMT
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SEOUL, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Following is a chronology of key events in the past 18 years of diplomatic efforts to contain North Korea's nuclear ambitions: On Sunday, South Korean media reported that an explosion in North Korea on Sept. 9 produced a mushroom cloud. But South Korean and U.S. officials said it was unlikely that the blast was nuclear. - - - - December 1985 - North Korea joins nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but makes adherence to safeguards agreement with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) contingent on removal of U.S. nuclear weapons from South Korea. September 1991 - President George Bush announces withdrawal of all U.S. tactical nuclear weapons deployed abroad, including about 100 based in South Korea. December 1991 - Two Koreas sign South-North Joint Declaration on Denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. They pledge not to test, produce, receive, store, deploy or use nuclear weapons. They also agree to mutual inspections. January - September 1992 - North Korea concludes and ratifies comprehensive safeguards agreement with IAEA, then declares seven sites and some plutonium to be subject to IAEA inspection. IAEA discovers discrepancies in North Korea's initial report and asks for clarification on amount of reprocessed plutonium. February 1993 - IAEA demands special inspections of two nuclear waste storage sites, citing evidence that North Korea had been cheating on its NPT commitments. North Korea refuses. March 1993 - Refusing demands, Pyongyang announces intention to withdraw from NPT in three months, citing national security considerations. June 1993 - Following talks with United States, North Korea suspends pull-out from NPT and agrees to accept IAEA safeguards. March 1994 - IAEA inspectors arrive in North Korea for first checks in a year. North's refusal to allow inspections at Yongbyon plutonium reprocessing plant, north of Pyongyang, prompts IAEA to demand it allow all requested checks immediately. June 1994 - North Korea announces withdrawal from the IAEA. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter negotiates deal with North Korea in which it confirms willingness to freeze its nuclear arms programme and resume talks with United States. October 1994 - United States and North Korea adopt Agreed Framework in Geneva calling on North to freeze and eventually eliminate nuclear facilities and allow IAEA special inspections. In exchange, Pyongyang is to receive two proliferation-resistant light-water reactors (LWRs) and annual heavy fuel oil shipments. March 1995 - Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO), a multinational consortium, is formed to build the LWRs. November 1999 - KEDO officials sign contract with Korea Electric Power Corporation to begin construction of LWRs. October 2002 - Top State Department envoy James Kelly confronts Pyongyang with evidence of covert uranium enrichment programme. Pyongyang says it is "entitled to possess not only nuclear weapons but other types of weapons more powerful than them in defence of its sovereignty in face of the U.S. threat". November 2002 - United States and KEDO allies meet in New York and decide to cut off fuel oil shipments. December 2002 - North Korea says it plans to restart Yongbyon reactor, disables IAEA surveillance devices at Yongbyon and expels IAEA inspectors. January 2003 - North Korea says it is quitting NPT, with immediate effect. February 2003 - North Korea says it has put atomic plant at Yongbyon on "normal footing" for reactivation. April 2003 - At talks between U.S. team lead by Kelly and North Koreans and China in Beijing, American officials say North Korea told the United States that it has nuclear weapons and might test therm or transfer them to other countries. August 2003 - Six-way talks on the nuclear issue take place involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia in Beijing. North Korea threatens to test nuclear bomb and test-fire new missile. But it also agrees to more talks and attends inconclusive meetings in February and May 2004. October 2003 - North Korea says it has enhanced its "nuclear deterrent" with plutonium reprocessed from thousands of nuclear fuel rods. Pyongyang says it is willing to display the deterrent. January 2004 - Pyongyang lets unofficial delegation of Americans, including nuclear expert, tour Yongbyon. U.S. nuclear expert Sigfried Hecker says he was not convinced that North Korea could turn its nuclear technology into a weapon or mount it on a missile. February 2004 - The father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, admits to proliferating uranium-linked technology to Libya, Iran and North Korea. North Korea calls Khan's confession a lie. September 2004 - South Korea acknowledges that government scientists, in unauthorised scientific experiments, extracted trace amounts of plutonium in 1982 and enriched uranium in 2000. North Korea says it will link the news to six-way nuclear talks. (SOURCES: Arms Control Association, U.S. State Department, Korean Central News Agency)
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