North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japanese territory on Tuesday, in a surprise move that ramped up international alarm over its weapons programme.
Here are the key dates in Pyongyang’s quest to develop a missile capable of hitting the United States:
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Late 1970s: North Korea starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 185 miles). Test-fired in 1984
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1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (range 500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km)
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Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 rocket over Japan in what it calls a satellite launch — the US and others say it is a missile
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Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US
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July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports
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March 3, 2005: Pyongyang ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration’s “hostile” policy
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July 5, 2006: Test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds
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Oct 9, 2006: Conducts underground nuclear test, its first
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April 5, 2009: Launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2
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May 25, 2009: Conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first
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April 13, 2012: Launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but which disintegrates soon after blast-off
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December 12, 2012: Launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit
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February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test
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January 6, 2016: Conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was a hydrogen bomb — a claim doubted by most experts
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March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead
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April 23, 2016: Pyongyang test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile
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July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system — THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence)
- August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan’s maritime economic zone for the first time
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September 9, 2016: Conducts fifth nuclear test
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March 6, 2017: Fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan
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March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea
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May 14, 2017: North Korea fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles) and brings Guam within reach
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July 4, 2017: Test-fires a ballistic missile that analysts say brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a “landmark” test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
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July 28, 2017: Launches a missile with a theoretical range of 10,000 kilometres, meaning it could hit much of the United States
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August 26, 2017: Fires three short-range ballistic missiles
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August 29, 2017: Fires ballistic missile across Japanese territory. South Korea says it was launched from Sunan, near Pyongyang and flew around 2,700 kilometres at a maximum altitude of around 550 kilometres
