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US-N. Korea summit... A historic step to resolve tension, disputes

By Moussa Ahmad

KUWAIT, June 11 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump and North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Un will hold an important summit on Tuesday aimed at defusing the long history of tension and animosity between their respective countries.
During the course of 73 years, the relations between the US and North Korea and the status quo of the Korean Peninsula were in constant turmoil due to the rhetoric of threats and looming doom.
The following is a chronological rundown of major events that marked such tense relation: -- August 1945: Three decades and a half of Japanese colonialization ended. The Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel north between the communist and Soviet-supported North Korea as oppose to the pro-capitalist and US-backed South Korea.
-- June 1950: North Korea launched a surprise military attack on the South, leading to the occupation of Seoul. The US and its allies decided to from a coalition to retrieve South Korea.
-- July 1953: After two years from the Korean War, a truce was reached but no peace accord was signed.
-- January 1968: North Korea intercepted the spy vessel, the USS Pueblo (AGER-2), detaining 83 American crewmembers. They were released after 10 months of negotiations.
-- April 1969: North Korea gunned down a US recon aircraft.
-- January 1988: The US imposed sanctions on North Korea after the Asian nation was listed as a terror-supporting state.
-- June 1994: Former US President Jimmy Carter went on an unprecedented visit to North Korea. In October 1994, the US and North Korea signed a mutual deal where the latter would dismantles and freezes its military nuclear program.
-- August 1998: North Korea launched Taepodong-1, an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
-- September 1999: Late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il ordered the halt of nuclear tests. Washington eased sanctions on Pyongyang.
-- July 2000: The fifth round of US-North Korean talks ended with no deal signed. Pyongyang asked for USD one billion to halt exports of missiles. In October of the same year, high-level meetings resumed between the US and North Korea with then US State Secretary Madeleine Albright, meeting the North Korean President in Pyongyang.
-- January 2002: Former US President George W. Bush deemed North Korea as part of the 'Axis of Evil', which also included Iraq and Iran. October of the same year, the US claimed that North Korea had preached a deal signed in 1994 concerning the uranium enrichment. Washington suspended oil cargo to Pyongyang.
-- August 2003: North Korea declared itself as a nuclear power.
-- March 2005: Pyongyang resumed long-range ballistic missile tests due to the hostile policies of the US administration.
-- July 2006: North Korea launched seven missiles, including the Taepodong-2. The weapons could reach Alaska and the West Coast of the US. In October, North Korea conducted its first underground nuclear test.
-- March 2007: Washington issued decision to move frozen North Korean assets in Macau, taking a huge leap in the efforts to denuclearize Pyongyang's program. In July 2007, North Korea announced the shutdown of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center as part of the denuclearization efforts.
-- October 2008: The US took North Korea off the list of state countries supporting terrorism in exchange to efforts to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear program.
-- April 2009: North Korea launched a long-range missile, which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul said that this was a breach of efforts to denuclearize the North Korean program while Pyongyang said that the projectile was actually a rocket meant to send a satellite to orbit. In May 2009, North Korea conducted its second underground nuclear test, followed by firing several missiles during the US Independence Day celebration on July 14. In August, former US President Bill Clinton visited the North in an effort to meet two detained American journalists.
-- January 2016: North Korea detained American students Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to take an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel. A comatose Warmbier was returned to the US in 2017 and died shortly afterwards.
-- January 2017: US President Donald Trump said that North Korea would not be able to develop an atomic weapon capable of threatening the US, a claim challenged by Pyongyang in July, when two intercontinental ballistic missiles were fired and North Korean President Kim Jong-Un claiming such weapons could reach any corner of the US. A month later, a North Korean missile crossed Japanese airspace. President Trump said that negotiation with Pyongyang was not possible.
In September, the North claimed the test of a hydrogen bomb. Later in the same month, Washington deployed ships near the northern coast of the Peninsula and issued new sanctions.
-- January 2018: Washington and Pyongyang exchanged threats over the usage of nuclear weapons. In February, the Winter Olympic Games held in South Korea showcased solidarity amongst athletes from the Korean Peninsula and in April, Pyongyang announced the end of its ballistic missile tests and closed a number of sites in north of the country. In May, President Trump announced that a summit with President Kim would be held on June 12 in Singapore. The summit was almost canceled, but got back on track. (end) mad.gta