KIM JONG UN: A TIMELINE

Kim Jong Il's youngest son, the pudgy-faced Kim Jong Un, was a surprise pick for inheriting his father's title of Supreme Commander. Since Kim Jong Il's death in December of 2011 however, Kim Jong Un has moved rapidly and sometimes brutally to establish his position of power within the North Korean bureaucracy. Contrary to speculation that the Swiss-educated ruler would liberalize some elements of the totalitarian regime his father and grandfather had presided over, Kim Jong Un has continued to oversee North Korea's nuclear program, unpredictable foreign policy, and the country's infamous human rights abuses. The Duke East Asia Nexus has put together a retrospective timeline chronicling Kim Jong Un's rise to political prominence and the actions of his regime since.
Timeline of Events: The Presidency of Kim Jong Un (October 8, 2011-Present)

2009

March 17, 2009 – North Korea rejects US food aid and all American NGOs are asked to leave the country.

April 2009 – Kim Jong Un appointed to North Korea's National Defense Commission.

April 5, 2009 – North Korea test-fires a long-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear payload, intending to send a satellite into space that would broadcast patriotic sounds. However, the payload was dropped in the Pacific Ocean, according to the US and South Korea.

Hours later, President Obama pledges his commitment to a “nuclear-free world” in a speech he delivered in Prague.

April 14, 2009 - North Korea condemns U.N. Security Council statement, withdraws from the "Six Party Talks" on its nuclear program. Pyongyang demands the withdrawal of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors and U.S. technical experts monitoring its Yongbyon nuclear site, and announces its intention to reactivate its nuclear facilities.

May 25, 2009 - North Korea announces it has conducted its second nuclear test (following the first in October of 2006, which were quickly followed by UN sanctions) shortly after the U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 4.7 seismic disturbance at the site of North Korea's first nuclear test. 

June 12, 2009 - The UN Security Council approves Resolution 1874, condemning North Korea's May 25th nuclear test. The UN also imposes new sanctions, banning the sale of most arms to or from North Korea and authorizing member states to stop cargo ships at sea suspected of carrying weapons to or from the isolated communist country. North Korea said that any attempt to board its ships would be an “act of war.”

July 2, 2009 – North Korea fires four missiles, in an apparent test of its missile accuracy capacities and in reaction to the recently imposed UN sanctions.

June 4, 2009 - North Korea fires seven missiles, five of which land in the East Sea. The missile tests are quickly condemned by the UN and various countries.

Summer 2009 - United States does not renew (see page 7) its energy assistance to North Korea in the Administration’s budget request for FY2011-FY2015. Previously, in its FY2009 Supplemental Appropriations budget request, the Obama Administration sought over $150 million for North Korea-related energy and denuclearization assistance to use in the event of a breakthrough with North Korea.14 In separate committee actions, House and Senate appropriators rejected these requests, in large part due to North Korea’s withdrawal from the Six-Party process and the subsequent missile and nuclear tests in spring 2009.
2010

March 2010 - Sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan which kills all 46 sailors onboard, allegedly by the North, raises tensions to new heights.

April 2010 – The Obama Administration releases its Nuclear Posture Review Report in an ongoing initiative to control the use of nuclear arms. 

July 2010 - United States announces new sanctions on North Korea in response to sinking of Cheonan warship. U.S. diplomats said China blocked American attempts to impose tough new financial penalties against Pyongyang through the U.N.

September 27, 2010 – Kim Jong Un is promoted to four-star general and named vice chairman of the Central Military Commission as well as to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It is the first time that any North Korean news outlet mentioned Kim Jong Un’s name.

September 28, 2010 - Kim Jong-il's youngest son Kim Jong-un is appointed to senior political and military posts, fuelling speculation that he is being prepared to succeed his father.

October 9, 2010 - Kim Jong Nam, eldest son of Kim Jong Il, tells Japan's TV Asahi that he opposes the hereditary transfer of power for a third generation. These are his first comments since the promotion of Kim Jong Un, his half-brother.

November 2010 - North Korea shows an eminent visiting American nuclear scientist a vast new secretly-built facility for enriching uranium at its Yongbyon complex. The revelation sparks alarm and anger in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. According to the report by Stanford University professor, Siegfried Hecker, North Korea has a new nuclear enrichment facility composed of 2,000 centrifuges. 

November 23, 2010 – North Korean military shells South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which is located in the same area that the South Korean ship Cheonan was sunk. Four are killed, 18 injured, and 200 island residents are evacuated. The North claims the South fired the first shots; the South claims they were part of an annual practice drill called “Safeguarding the Nation” which the North has sharply criticized. In response, the US joins the ROK for military drills.
2011

February 2011 - Foot and mouth disease hits livestock, threatening to aggravate desperate food shortages.

February 9, 2011 – Talks between North and South Korea – the first since the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, break down after North Korea walks out.

May 2011 – A report by Amnesty International document harsh prisoner conditions in North Korea’s growing secret penal system 

May 24, 2011 - U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, Robert King, leads trip to North Korea to assess food shortages. The team, which includes officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), concludes that North Korea is suffering from widespread, chronic malnutrition but does not publicize its findings. Before leaving on May 28, King secures the release of an American citizen detained for “committing a crime.” 

July 24, 2011 - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces chief North Korean nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan has been invited to New York to discuss possible "pre-steps" to resuming Six Party Talks.

July 28-29, 2011 - North Korea and the United States hold talks at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York. Parties describe the talks as "constructive" but say it is too early to judge whether a return to Six Party talks is possible.

August 1, 2011 - North Korea says it has agreed to further dialogue with the United States on the nuclear issue.

August 2011 - Pentagon announces it has sought talks with Pyongyang about repatriating the remains of American soldiers killed in the Korean War. Pyongyang later accepts the proposal, and the two sides meet in October in Thailand.

August 18, 2011 - The United States announces it has offered up to $900,000 to North Korea in emergency flood assistance (but not food aid), reflecting an ease in US-NK tensions

August 2011 – North Korea green lights a US program to recover the remains of 5,500 US soldiers missing since the Korean War 

October 8, 2011 – Power transferred to Kim Jong Un, who is named Supreme Commander of the North Korean army.

October 24-25,2011 - U.S. officials, led by U.S. Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, meet with a North Korean delegation, led by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, in Geneva, Switzerland, in an effort to restart the six-party nuclear arms talks that broke down in 2008.

December 15, 2011 - U.S. and North Korean officials meet in Beijing to discuss possible food assistance to North Korea in exchange for the suspension of North Korea's uranium enrichment program.

December 17, 2011 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il dies at the age of 69.

December 24, 2011 – Kim Jong Un officially instated as Supreme Commander of North Korea 

December 28, 2011 – Kim Jong Un accompanies the body of Kim Jong Il during the funeral procession through Pyongyang.

December 31, 2011 – Kim Jong Un officially assumes command of the North Korean army after the state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that the power was transferred to him on October 8 at the behest of his father.
2012

January 11,2012 - North Korea indicates that it is open to further discussions, a continuation of discussions that started before Kim Il Sung’s death, with the U.S. over suspending its uranium enrichment program in exchange for food aid, an agreement that seemed close to realization before Kim Jong Il's death on December 17, 2011.

February 2012 - Kim Jong-il is posthumously awarded the highest military title of Generalissimo - the same rank held by his father, Kim Il-sung. The army pledges loyalty to his successor, Kim Jong-un, in a mass parade held to mark the 70th anniversary of Kim Jong-il's birth. 

February 29, 2012 - The Obama Administration and North Korea reach two related agreements (dubbed the “leap day deal”). In the first, North Korea announced it would abide by a moratorium on testing and allow international monitoring of key parts of its nuclear program. The second was a U.S. announcement that it would provide North Korea with 240,000 metric tons (MT) of food aid—termed “nutritional assistance.” North Korea also agreed in principle to accept tougher conditions on monitoring and that the food assistance would take the form of food products (such as corn-soy blends) that are less likely to be diverted from their intended recipients, namely pregnant women and young children. The agreement appears to have been largely worked out in bilateral meetings in 2011. The December 2011 death of Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s former supreme leader, had halted the talks for a few months

March 16, 2012 - North Korea announces that it will launch an “earth observation satellite” in April. Such a launch would defy a number of United Nations resolutions, which demand North Korea refrain from “any launch using ballistic missile technology.” After North Korea proceeded with the launch on April 13, the United States nullified its portion of the Leap Day arrangement. Thereafter, North Korea follows suit. The IAEA withdraws its plans for a visit.

April 11, 2012 - Kim Jong-un formally takes over ruling party leadership, becoming First Secretary of the Workers Party. 

April 12, 2012 – Kim Jong Un is elected First Chairman of the North Korean National Defense Commission. His father, Kim Il-Sung, remains chair of the committee. 

April 13, 2012 - NK launches a "rocket-mounted satellite" to mark the birthday of Kim Il-Sung fails. Most observers think it was a long-range missile test of the sort that North Korea had agreed to suspend in return for US food aid. North Korea says it is no longer bound by the agreement, which also banned nuclear tests. The same day, the North Korean constitution was revised to describe the country as a “nuclear-armed nation. On April 15, 2012, speaks before hundreds of troops and others in Pyongyang as part of a celebration marking 100 years since the birth of the nation's founder, his grandfather. This is Jong Un’s first televised speech since assuming the country's leadership.

May 24, 2013 - A spokesperson for South Korea's Defense Ministry says that based on analysis of commercial satellite images at North Korea's nuclear test site, North Korea appears ready to carry out a nuclear test at any time.

July 16, 2012 - Army head Ri Yong-ho is removed from senior posts in the ruling party, and leader Kim Jong-un appoints himself to the highest rank of marshal. Dozens are killed in a firefight when he is removed.

July 18, 2012 - Kim Jong Un is given the title marshal of the army. It is the latest in a string of moves to reconfigure the top ranks of North Korea's military. The announcement follows the removal of the army chief, Ri Yong Ho.

October 9, 2012 - Days after South Korea and the US unveil a new missile deal, North Korea says it has missiles that can hit the US mainland.

December 12, 2012 - North Korea successfully launches an Unha-3 long-range rocket from the Sohae Space Center in Cholsan County and puts a "working satellite" into orbit, after the failure to do so in April. The UN including China regarded this as a violation of a ban on North Korean ballistic missile tests, as the rocket technology is the same.
2013

January 22, 2013 – The UN Security Council passes Resolution  

January 24, 2013 - North Korea's National Defense Commission says it will continue nuclear testing and long-range rocket launches, all of which are a part of an "upcoming all-out action" aimed at the United States, "the sworn enemy of the Korean people." Two days prior to this statement, the United Nations Security Council condemned a recent rocket launch by North Korea and expanded sanctions by passing Resolution 2087.

February 12, 2013 - North Korea carries out a third nuclear test, said to be twice as big as the 2009 test. The test came weeks after the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2087 calling for more sanctions against North Korea following a rocket testing. This is the first nuclear test to be carried out under the new leader, Kim Jong Un.

March 1, 2013 – North Korea hosts former NBA basketball star and North Korea visitor Dennis Rodman. In total, Rodman will visit North Korea three more times: September 2013, December 2013, and January 2014

March 7, 2013 – UN Security Council unanimously (with China onboard) passes Resolution 2094, approving new sanctions against North Korea in response to its third nuclear test. In addition to extending the list of materials that Pyongyang cannot import, Resolution 2094 gives states broader rights to inspect cargo that passes through their territories if the states suspect that the cargo may contain illicit materials being imported or exported by North Korea. 

March 15, 2013 – US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announces that the Alaska’s Fort Greely will add more ground-based ballistic missiles interceptors to guard against threats from Iran and North Korea.

March 18, 2013 – Japan confirms that under existing sanctions, it has seized a Singaporean cargo ship carrying North Korean aluminum rods, bound for Myanmar. The rods are banned by UN sanctions because they can be repurposed for weapons use.

March 20, 2013 – North Korea cyber-attacks on three major banks and two broadcasting companies in South Korea disrupt media and economic activity. The attacks mark the beginning of a series of cyber attacks on South Korea. 

April 1, 2013- North Korea says it will restart all facilities at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex 

April 8-9, 2013 – North Korea withdraws its 50,000 workers from the South Korean-funded Kaesong joint industrial park, after barring South Korean personnel and equipment from entering the complex April 3. The North cites aggressive actions from the United States and South Korea as explanation for the closure of the complex.

May 2, 2013: North Korea sentences US tour operator Kenneth Bae to hard labor for "anti-government crimes."

May 19, 2013 - North Korea tests four short-range missiles over one weekend. 

July 16, 2013 - Panama charges crew of North Korean ship detained after it was found to be carrying weapons. Cuba says it sent the weapons to North Korea for repairs. The ship was eventually returned to Cuba February 15, 2014.

September 11, 2013 – According to satellite imagery analyzed by 38 North, North Korea restarted operations of its plutonium producing nuclear reactor in its Yongbyon facility. If reactivation is true it would be a "violation of the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions" and its commitments made under its Sept. 19, 2005, joint statement between the six-party nations. 

September 16, 2013 - North and South Korea reopen Kaesong joint industrial zone which was shut down in April amid heightened tension between the two countries. An August 14 agreement between the two countries preceded the complex’s reopening. A comprehensive timeline of events can be found here.

September 24, 2013 - China bans export to North Korea of items that could be used to make missiles or nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The ban is one of the strongest steps China has taken against North Korea’s nuclear and weapons programs.

December 7, 2013 – 85 year-old American Merrill Newman is released after being detained for six weeks by the North Korean government for “indelible crimes” Newman, a veteran of the Korean War, had supposedly committed during his service. 

December 13, 2013 - Kim Jong-un's uncle, Jang Song-thaek, is found guilty of attempting to overthrow the state and is summarily executed. The purging of Mr. Jang - a powerful figure who had appeared to act as Mr Kim's mentor when the young leader took power - is seen by analysts as indicating the biggest political shake-up in the country since the death of Kim Jong-il in 2011.
2014

February 27, 2014 - According to South Korean Defense Ministry, North Korea launches four scud missiles into the sea off its eastern coast. The scud missiles were fired in the direction of Russia and fell into the sea. The missiles were fired just days after the start of annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States that North Korea opposes. 

February 28, 2014 – North Korea shows off a detained South Korean missionary on spying charges.

March 3, 2014 - According to South Korean Defense Ministry, North Korea fires two short-range missiles off its eastern coast. This is the second launch in less than a week.

March 25, 2014 - North Korea test-fires two medium-range Nodong ballistic missiles for the first time since 2009, in violation of UN resolutions and just hours after the US, South Korea and Japan met in the Netherlands for talks. It also marks the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

March 2014 - Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Danny Russel testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Obama Administration and the South Korean government of Park Geun-hye believe that “humanitarian actions can be pursued” with North Korea.

April 9, 2014 - Parliamentary "elections" implemented every five years are held in which single approved candidates stand uncontested in 687 constituencies across the country. Turnout is officially put at 99.97 per cent. Kim is unanimously elected as Deputy to the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of the DPRK.

May 2, 2014 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un removes Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, who was widely considered to be second-most influential person in Kim's government, from top military and party posts; is latest in list of top officials who have been purged or demoted as Kim consolidates his power.

June 17, 2014 – Footage from a North Korean propaganda film reveals the North Koreans may have a long-range Russian missile 

Emily Feng is a senior at Duke University and the president of the Duke East Asia Nexus.