SEOUL, June 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – With US President Donald Trump and North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un poised to meet Tuesday, here is a recap of the
decades of tensions between their countries:
– Divided Korean peninsula –
The Soviet Union declares war on Japan, Korea’s colonial power, in the
closing days of World War II and Washington and Moscow agree to divide the
peninsula into two zones of occupation along the 38th parallel.
Two rival states emerge in 1948, the Soviet-backed regime of Kim Il Sung
in Pyongyang, and a Seoul government under US protection, an uneasy co-
habitation that erupts into war when the North invades the South.
It advances to the brink of victory, only to be driven back to the edge of
defeat by a US-led coalition, prompting China to intervene on a huge scale.
The wo sides fight to a bloody and muddy standstill that lasts until 1953,
when an armistice — not a fully-fledged peace treaty — is signed, setting
up the Demilitarized Zone that splits the peninsula to this day.
– Lashing out –
With the Cold War in full bloom, North Korea scores a coup when its
military captures an American spy ship in 1968.
The regime claims the USS Pueblo had violated territorial waters — which
Washington denies — and holds the 83-strong crew for 11 months. The ship is
never returned and remains on display in Pyongyang.
Two US officers trying to prune a tree in the DMZ are killed by Northern
troops in the 1976 ‘Axe Murder Incident’, prompting a monumental show of
force by Washington, which deploys jet fighters and aircraft carriers in the
operation to cut down the offending poplar.
– Contact –
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and with North Korea’s economy
under intense pressure — resulting in a devastating famine — attitudes to
the outside world begin to soften.
Former US president Jimmy Carter makes an unprecedented visit in June 1994
and later that year, Pyongyang and Washington sign an agreement in which
North Korea commits to dismantle its military nuclear programme in exchange
for civilian reactors.
– Reaching up –
The detente is short-lived and in 1998 Pyongyang launches its first multi-
stage rocket in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit.
However, a year later leader Kim Jong Il declares a moratorium on missile
launches and Washington eases sanctions.
In October 2000, US secretary of state Madeleine Albright meets Kim Jong
Il in Pyongyang.
– ‘Axis of Evil’ –
Relations sour again under US president George W. Bush, who lumps North
Korea together with Iran and Iraq in the “axis of evil” in 2002.
Washington accuses Pyongyang of conducting a secret uranium enrichment
programme in violation of earlier agreements, and is proved right in 2006
when the North conducts its first nuclear test.
– Testing times –
Three years later the North walks out of the Six-Party Talks, a Chinese-
chaired process that includes the US, and detonates its second nuclear blast.
Weapons testing accelerates after Kim Jong Il dies in 2011 and his son Kim
Jong Un inherits power.
In 2017 the North carries out its sixth and by far its largest nuclear
explosion, with a yield estimated at up to 250 kilotons, and launches
missiles that bring the entire US mainland within range.
The young leader declares his weapons programme complete.
– Trump vs Kim – North Korea’s testing frenzy coincides with Donald
Trump’s first year in the White House.
Throughout 2017, Trump and Kim threaten each other with war — Trump
promises “fire and fury” — and both men launch increasingly extravagant
verbal attacks. Trump derides Kim as “little Rocket Man”, while Kim returns
the favour — and coins one of diplomacy’s more memorable insults — by
calling the septuagenarian a “mentally deranged US dotard”.
– Towards the Singapore summit –
When 2018 dawns it brings a rapid change in mood, with North Korea sending
a delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in seizes the opportunity and works to get
Pyongyang and Washington talking again.
In March, Trump abruptly — and apparently without consulting advisers —
accepts a North Korean invitation to a summit.
The following month Kim and Moon meet in the Demilitarized Zone and agree
to pursue denuclearisation and a permanent peace treaty.
There is a wobble in May when — just hours after North Korea dismantles
its nuclear test site — Trump declares the summit is off.
Some soothing words and a quick inter-Korean summit later, and the Trump-
Kim meeting is back on.