At a time when Japan couldn't get its H2 rocket off of the ground w/o having to destroy $230 mil. in mid-flight, NK launched a taepedong missile right over Jnese airspace. NK later claimed it was a satellite launch.
This display was cold water in the face of the Japanese, that and repeated naval incursions by NK vessels.
NK nuke chronology:
1962: North Korea sets up an atomic energy research center with Soviet help.
1964: Chinese help prospect for uranium.
1967: North Korea starts up small Soviet-supplied reactor.
1969-70: Soviet Union sends FROG-5 and FROG-7A missiles to North Korea.
1974: North Korea joins IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
1975: North Korea produces first plutonium -- a few grams.
1976: In return for military aid during the 1973 Middle East war, Egypt sends Soviet Scud-B missiles to North Korea.
1977: North Korea agrees to international inspection of Soviet-supplied equipment.
1977: Kang Song-San, a high party official, visits China's Lop Nur nuclear test site.
1979: Starts to build 30-megawatt thermal reactor that can produce enough plutonium for one bomb a year.
1983: A terrorist bomb linked to North Korea kills four South Korean cabinet members in Rangoon.
1984: North Korea successfully tests its first reverse-engineered Scud-B missile.
1984: An Iranian businessman and a Soviet emigre are indicted in New York for conspiring to smuggle U.S. missile guidance components to North Korea.
1985: Iran agrees to finance the development of North Korean Scud missiles in exchange for Scud-B technology and an option to buy the missiles when they become available.
1985: Signs the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), promising not to produce a bomb and to open all nuclear sites to inspection. In return, Soviets promise North Korea several large power reactors.
1985: Starts to build a 200-Mwt. reactor that can produce enough plutonium for 7 to 10 bombs a year.
1985: Also starts to build large plant to process plutonium into weapon-ready form.
1986: Begins to produce plutonium in 30-Mwt. reactor.
1987: Misses the first 18-month deadline for the beginning of international inspections. Inspectors grant 18-month extension.
1987: North Korean agents bomb a South Korean airliner with 115 passengers to retaliate for being barred from Seoul Olympics.
1987: Iran and North Korea sign a $500 million arms deal that includes the purchase of 90 to 100 Scud-Bs by Tehran.
1987-88: North Korea delivers approximately 100 Scud-B missiles to Iran.
1988: U.S. puts North Korea on its list of nations supporting terrorism.
1988: Misses second deadline for beginning international inspections, and demands "legal assurances" that U.S. won't threaten it with nuclear weapons.
1989: Continues to refuse nuclear inspections.
1989: Secretly unloads, according to CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), enough plutonium-bearing fuel to make one or two nuclear bombs.
1989: Begins to process plutonium into nuclear-ready form.
1989: Starts to build 800-Mwt. reactor that can produce plutonium for 30 to 40 bombs a year.
1989: Proposes talks with South Korea on denuclearizing the peninsula.
1989: Two Japanese companies reportedly ship spectrum analyzers to North Korea, which can be used to improve missile accuracy.
1990: Threatens to drop out of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty unless U.S. removes all nuclear weapons from the peninsula.
1990: U.S. fines German firm Degussa for illegally supplying U.S.-origin reactor material to North Korea.
1990: Breaks off talks with inspectors. Continues to refuse inspection.
1990: Tries to buy electronic components for bomb triggers from U.S. company.
1990: 70 to 80 high-explosive tests in North Korea of bomb components are reported by South Korean press.
1990: Tests large plutonium processing plant, showing it is operational.
1990: Starts up new plant to process uranium for reactor fuel.
1990: Continues to produce plutonium and process it into weapon-ready form.
1990: Successfully tests a Scud-C missile, hitting targets off North Korea's eastern coast from a base in the Kangwon Province; Iran reportedly tests what U.S. intelligence identifies as a North Korean version of the Scud-C.
1991: Refuses Japan's offer of aid and recognition in exchange for inspections.
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