DISCUSSION
On a visit to the North Korean capital Pyongyang, US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly presses the North on suspicions that it is continuing to pursue a nuclear energy and missiles program. Mr Kelly says he has evidence of a secret uranium-enriching program carried out in defiance of the 1994 Agreed Framework. Under this deal, North Korea agreed to forsake nuclear ambitions in return for the construction of two safer light water nuclear power reactors and oil shipments from the US.
The US announces that North Korea admitted in their talks to a secret nuclear arms program.
Initially the North appears conciliatory. Leader Kim Jong-il says he will allow international weapons inspectors to check that nuclear facilities are out of use.
The North accuses the US of deliberately misinterpreting its contested statement, twisting an assertion of its "right" to possess weapons into an "admission" of possession.
South Korea asks China to use its influence with North Korea to try to reduce tension over the nuclear issue, and two days later Russia offers to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.
The US says it is "willing to talk to North Korea about how it meets its obligations to the international community". But it "will not provide quid pro quos to North Korea to live up to its existing obligations".
North Korea agrees to hold cabinet-level talks with South Korea on 21 January.
North Korea announces it will withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
North Korea says it has reactivated its nuclear facilities and their operations are now going ahead "on a normal footing".
North Korea warns the United States that any decision to build up its troops in the region could lead the North to make a pre-emptive attack on American forces.
North Korea tears up agreements
Communist North Korea has said it is scrapping all military and political agreements signed with the South, accusing Seoul of hostile intent.
SANCTIONS
North Koreans face daily struggle
Existing sanctions against North Korea have already taken their toll on the country's economy.
Due to a variety of factors including the North Korean regime's implementation of an ineffective ideology called Juche or Self Reliance, which promotes national isolation, misallocation of resources, economic mismanagement, loss of support from former Soviet Union, discrimination, diversion of food aid, and natural disasters, the vast majority of North Korean citizens who live outside of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, continue to suffer from hunger and malnutrition.
Since 1995, an estimated 2 million North Koreans, have starved to death in North Korea. Another 300,000 North Koreans have fled to China to live illegally, risking their lives to flee the mass starvation and brutal oppression of Kim Jong Il's Stalinist North Korea regime.
Regime Survival A Top Priority
Faced with a massive food shortage, the North Korean government "made a choice," Natsios said. Making the regime's survival its top priority, the government decided that food would go to the country's elite and its military forces. Most citizens, especially those who lived in regions or worked in industries that the government deemed "unproductive," were considered expendable. As many as three million people may have died.
THREATS
US President George W Bush declares November oil shipments to the North will be the last if the North does not agree to put a halt to its weapons ambitions.
Unnamed American officials are quoted as saying that spy satellites have tracked movement at the Yongbyon plant throughout January, prompting fears that North Korea is trying to reprocess plutonium for nuclear bombs. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer delivers a stern warning that North Korea must not take "yet another provocative action... intended to intimidate and blackmail the international community".
The United States says it is considering new military deployments in the Pacific Ocean to back up its forces in South Korea, as a deterrent against any North Korean aggression, in the event that the US goes to war on Iraq.
The IAEA finds North Korea in breach of nuclear safeguards and refers the matter to the UN security council.
ACCOMPLISHED?
N Korea's Kim in military shuffle
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has promoted a close aide to a leading role on the body which controls the country's 1.1m-strong military.
NKorea builds underground fueling facility
North Korea has built an underground fueling facility near a key launch pad, a news report said Thursday, making it harder for spy satellites to detect signs that a missile is being prepared for firing.
N Korea deploying more missiles
North Korea has recently completed the deployment of new medium-range missiles capable of reaching more parts of Asia, South Korea says.
North Korea plans rocket launch
North Korea has announced that it is preparing to launch a rocket carrying a communications satellite.
When it tested the Taepodong-1 missile in 1998, it claimed to have put a satellite in orbit.
There are fears that the missile, with a theoretical range of 6,700 km (4,200 miles), could be used to target the US state of Alaska.
Substitute a similar scenario with Iran. What will it take to convince our government, the UN and the IAEA that the tirantical regimes cannot be dealt with, with diplomacy?
The leaders of North Korea, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and many others, are not unlike Manson, Gein, Bundy, Dahmer and Gacy. Just like Hitler, these are not normal human beings and cannot convinced to change. The harder you push, the harder they push back. Using a softer, diplomatic touch, only shows them our weakness. And proves to them, that they are right.
Ultimately, what will be accomplished, is:
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