Recent history since the separation of the Koreas.
1945 Japan controls Korea. But Japan is defeated in World War 2. Control of Korea is divided between Russia in the north and the U.S. in the south.
1946 The Soviet Union (Russia) makes Kim Il-sung the communist leader of North Korea.
1948-50 The North declares all of Korea to be the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The South responds by declaring itself to be a separate nation. The North invades the South in 1950, beginning the Korean War.
1953 An armistice is signed, bringing an unofficial end to the Korean War. Hundreds of thousands have died in the fighting.
1968-69 North Korea captures a U.S. spy ship and shoots down a U.S. spy plane.
1972 Secret talks between North and South fail to bring Korea back together.
1992 Nations worry that North Korea is still working on nuclear weapons. North Korea first agrees to inspections, but then blocks inspectors from suspected nuclear sites.
1994 Kim Jong-il takes over after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung. He promises to stop working on nuclear weapons if he is given $5 billion worth of fuel and two nuclear power plants.
1996-98 North Korea has a severe famine and unstable leadership. Kim sends troops into the DMZ (demilitarized zone—the border area between the two countries). North Korean mini-subs are seen in South Korean waters.
2002 North Korea admits that it lied about halting its nuclear program. U.S. cuts off oil shipments. Kim sends nuclear inspectors out of the country.
2003 Six nations begin talks in an effort to stop North Korea’s work on nuclear weapons.
2006 North Korea tests a long range missile capable of reaching the U.S., then tests a nuclear bomb.
2007 Desperate for aid, Kim again bargains with a promise to halt his nuclear weapons program.
2011 Kim Jong-il dies. His son, Kim Jong-un takes over. He proves to be as much a dictator as his father and grandfather, and gets along with other nations no better.
2014 - 2017 North Koreas continues to test fire missiles and works even harder at making nuclear weapons that the missiles could carry.
