Compare the U.S. and North Korea
By: Justin Ashley
Comparing the U.S. and North Korea
Timeline of U.S. and North Korea Relations
1969- A U.S. reconnaissance plane is shot down by North Korea
1998- North Korea fires a missile over Japan
2002 — President Bush labels North Korea as part of the “Axis of Evil” (in 2005 Condi Rice would rebrand North Korea as one of her “outposts of tyranny”). U.S. envoy to North Korea James Kelly confronts Pyongyang about the existence of a uranium enrichment program. Inspectors are kicked out and the Agreed Framework declared dead.
2006 — North Korea fires more missiles in July, then tests its first nuclear device in October.
2011 — U.S. and North Korea hold talks in New York over the summer and in Geneva in the fall, leading to what may be a breakthrough whereby U.S. food aid resumes and North Korea then halts its nuclear activities. Officials say that is sidelined for now after the news that Kim Jong Il has died.
2010 — In November American nuclear experts invited to see uranium program, which is revealed publicly for the first time. Kim Jong Il’s youngest son, Kim Jong Un, is presented as the leader’s choice to take power after him. North Korea sinks a South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan.
Current Relationship With North Korea
U.S. and North Korea hold talks in New York over the summer and in Geneva in the fall, leading to what may be a breakthrough whereby U.S. food aid resumes and North Korea then halts its nuclear activities. Officials say that is sidelined for now after the news that Kim Jong Il has died. As of right now, the U.S. and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations. North Korea does not have an Embassy in the U.S., but they are represented with a seat in the United Nations.