North Korean Nuclear Negotiations
1985 – 2022

North Korean Nuclear Negotiations

Negotiations between the United States and North Korea have proceeded in fits and starts for decades. But they have failed to halt the advance of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

1985
December 1985

North Korea Joins Nonproliferation Regime

Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il oversee the construction of a dam.
Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il oversee the construction of a dam. KCNA/AP Photo

North Korea ratifies the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), a multilateral agreement whose dozens of signatories have committed to halting the spread of nuclear weapons and technology and promoting peaceful cooperation on nuclear energy. North Korea built its first nuclear facilities in the early 1980s.

1985
1991
September 1991

United States Removes Nukes From South Korea

U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev shake hands at the signing of the START agreement.
U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the signing of the START agreement. Sputnik/AP Photo

The United States announces it will withdraw roughly one hundred nuclear weapons from South Korea as part of the original Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The agreement between President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, known as the START treaty, limits the deployment of offensive nuclear weapons abroad.

1991
1992
January 1992

Koreas Agree to Denuclearize Peninsula

North Koreans in traditional dress perform for President Kim Il-sung.
North Koreans in traditional dress perform for President Kim Il-sung. Pierre Bessard/AFP/Getty Images

The governments of North and South Korea agree to “not test, manufacture, produce, receive, possess, store, deploy, or use nuclear weapons,” as well as ban nuclear reprocessing and uranium enrichment facilities. The treaty also commits the two Koreas to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.

1992
1993
March 1993 – June 1993

North Korea Threatens NPT Withdrawal

Pyongyang rejects inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and announces its intent to leave the NPT. However, the country suspends its withdrawal following talks with U.S. diplomats in New York. Pyongyang agrees to comply with IAEA safeguards, including inspections at seven declared nuclear sites. The first inspections take place in March 1994.

1993
1994
June 1994

Carter Visits North Korea

North Korean leader Kim Il-sung meets with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter weeks before Kim’s death.
North Korean leader Kim Il-sung meets with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter weeks before Kim’s death. KCNA/AP Photo

Amid escalating tensions on the peninsula, Jimmy Carter becomes the first former U.S. president to visit North Korea, where he meets with Kim Il-sung, the country’s founder. Carter’s trip paves the way for a bilateral deal between the United States and North Korea. Kim dies weeks later and is succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-il.

1994
1994
October 21, 1994

Deal Freezes Pyongyang’s Nuclear Program

The first page of the Agreed Framework.
The first page of the Agreed Framework.

The United States and North Korea sign the Agreed Framework [PDF], in which North Korea commits to freezing its illicit plutonium weapons program and halting construction on nuclear reactors, in Geneva. In exchange, the United States pledges to provide sanctions relief, aid, oil, and two light-water reactors for civilian use. Earlier in the year, the CIA assessed that North Korea had produced one or two nuclear weapons.

1994
1995
March 1995

Allies Found KEDO

Representatives of Japan, South Korea, and the United States sign the KEDO treaty.
Representatives of Japan, South Korea, and the United States sign the KEDO treaty. Jon Levy/AFP via Getty Images

The United States, Japan, and South Korea establish the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) to implement the 1994 Agreed Framework and oversee the financing and construction of the two light-water reactors. KEDO breaks ground in August 1997.

1995
1999
September 13, 1999

North Korea Imposes Missile Moratorium

North Korean television broadcasts an image of a ballistic missile.
North Korean television broadcasts an image of a ballistic missile. Reuters

North Korea agrees to suspend testing of long-range missiles following talks with the United States; in exchange, the United States eases economic sanctions for the first time since the beginning of the Korean War in 1950.

1999
2000
June 2000

First Inter-Korean Summit

North Korea’s Kim Jong-il shakes hands with the South’s Kim Dae-jung upon his arrival in Pyongyang.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-il poses with the South’s Kim Dae-jung upon his arrival in Pyongyang. Reuters

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung meets with Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang for the first summit between Korean leaders since the peninsula’s division five decades prior. The rapprochement results in a number of joint commercial and cultural projects, including construction of an industrial complex and the reunification of families separated during the war. Following the summit, the United States eases sanctions further, allowing some trade and investment.

2000
2000
October 2000

Washington and Pyongyang Host Goodwill Trips

Kim Jong-il toasts U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in North Korea.
Kim Jong-il toasts U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in North Korea. Chien-Min Chung/AFP/Getty Images

North Korean General Jo Myong-rok meets with U.S. President Bill Clinton in Washington, making Jo the highest-ranking North Korean official to visit the United States. A few weeks later, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright travels to North Korea to discuss the country’s ballistic missile program and missile technology exports. The diplomatic overtures lead to missile talks in November, but Clinton’s presidency ends without making additional nuclear or missile deals.

2000
20012002
January 2001 – April 2002

Bush Challenges North’s Commitment to Deal

Satellite imagery from February 2002 depicts North Korea’s nuclear facilities.
Satellite imagery from February 2002 depicts North Korea’s nuclear facilities. U.S. International Security Research Institute/Getty Images

President George W. Bush takes office in 2001 and pursues a harder line toward Pyongyang, characterizing North Korea, along with Iraq and Iran, as part of an “axis of evil” and imposing new sanctions. In April 2002, Bush states in a memorandum that the United States will not certify North Korea’s compliance with the 1994 Agreed Framework, due to a rocket test and missile-related transfers to Iran.

20012002
20022003
October 2002 – January 2003

Pyongyang Exits the NPT

Thousands rally in Pyongyang after North Korea’s withdrawal from the NPT.
Thousands rally in Pyongyang after North Korea’s withdrawal from the NPT. Gong Yidong/Xinhua/AP Photo

Pyongyang admits to running a secret uranium-enrichment program to power nuclear weapons, a violation of the Agreed Framework, the NPT, and agreements between North and South Korea. By December, the country says it will reactivate its nuclear plant in Yongbyon. The following month, North Korea withdraws from the NPT after disrupting IAEA monitoring equipment and expelling inspectors.

20022003
2003
August 9, 2003

Six Party Talks Open

Heads of the delegations to the Six Party Talks meet.
Heads of the delegations to the Six Party Talks meet. Ng Han Guan/Reuters

Amid an increasingly tense climate, South and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States launch a diplomatic initiative known as the Six Party Talks. There are no breakthroughs during the first round of talks, in Beijing, where North Korea denies having a uranium-enrichment program.

2003
2005
September 12, 2005

U.S. Freezes North Korean Funds

The U.S. Treasury Department designates the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia a primary money laundering concern and freezes $25 million North Korea holds there. These funds will prove to be a sticking point in negotiations between the United States and North Korea.

2005
2005
September 19, 2005

Disarmament Principles Emerge From Talks

Negotiators in Beijing shake hands after the fourth round of the Six Party Talks.
Negotiators in Beijing shake hands after the fourth round of the Six Party Talks. Guang Niu/Getty Images

Despite stalemates at previous rounds of the Six Party Talks, its members agree to a joint declaration in which North Korea commits to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and to implement IAEA safeguards and the terms of the NPT. As part of the agreement, the United States asserts that it has no intention of attacking North Korea.

2005
2006
October 9, 2006

North Korea Shocks With First Nuclear Test

South Korean television broadcasts North Korea’s first nuclear test.
South Korean television broadcasts North Korea’s first nuclear test. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images

North Korea carries out an underground nuclear test with an explosion yield estimated around one to two kilotons. In July, North Korea tested seven short-, medium-, and long-range ballistic missiles. These tests prompt the UN Security Council to issue unanimous condemnations and trade sanctions.

2006
2007
February 13, 2007

Six Party Members Agree to Action Plan

A ship destined for North Korea is loaded with oil in South Korea.
A ship destined for North Korea is loaded with oil in South Korea. Chung Sun-jun/Getty Images

North Korea commits to halting operations at its Yongbyon nuclear facilities in exchange for fifty thousand tons of oil. The deal is part of an action plan agreed to by the Six Party members to implement the September 2005 statement.

2007
2007
October 2007

Nuclear Diplomacy Inches Forward

U.S. President George W. Bush gives a statement on North Korea in June 2008.
U.S. President George W. Bush gives a statement on North Korea in June 2008. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

After the United States releases the $25 million in frozen North Korean funds in June, the Six Party Talks resume. Its participants issue a joint statement outlining the North’s commitment to declare all of its nuclear programs, disable its facilities, and stop the export of nuclear material and technology. In exchange, the North is to receive nine hundred thousand tons of oil and the United States pledges to remove the country from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

2007
2008
February 2008

South Korea’s New Leader Takes Harder Line

Lee Myung-bak takes his inaugural oath before the South Korean parliament.
Lee Myung-bak takes his inaugural oath before the South Korean parliament. Lee Jae-won/Reuters

Lee Myung-bak is elected president of South Korea. As the leader of a conservative government, Lee shifts from his predecessors’ push for reconciliation to exert more pressure on North Korea to denuclearize. He takes office a few months after the second inter-Korean summit, held between the North’s Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.

2008
2008
June 2008

North Korea Declares Nuclear Sites

A cooling tower at a North Korean plutonium-producing reactor is demolished.
A cooling tower at a North Korean plutonium-producing reactor is demolished. Kyodo/Reuters

Pyongyang declares its fifteen nuclear sites to Beijing, the chair of the Six Party Talks, stating that it had thirty kilograms of plutonium and used two kilograms in its 2006 nuclear test. In turn, Bush rescinds some restrictions on trade with North Korea, announces plans to take the country off the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and waives some sanctions. In October, the U.S. State Department announces a preliminary agreement with North Korea on verifications. However, by December, discussions break down because of disagreements on verification procedures.

2008
2009
January 2009 – December 2009

Obama Attempts Diplomatic Restart

A U.S. delegation arrives in Pyongyang in December 2009.
A U.S. delegation arrives in Pyongyang in December 2009. KCNA/Reuters

President Barack Obama takes office signaling a willingness to revive the Six Party Talks, but these efforts are initially rebuffed by North Korea, which launches a rocket believed to be a modified version of its long-range ballistic missile. It also ejects international monitors from its nuclear facilities in April and the following month tests a second nuclear device, which carries a yield of two to eight kilotons. In December, Obama administration officials hold their first bilateral meetings with their North Korean counterparts.

2009
2010
November 2010

North Korea Reveals Uranium Plant

Smoke rises from Yeonpyeong after North Korean artillery hit the South Korean island.
Smoke rises from Yeonpyeong after North Korean artillery hit the South Korean island. Getty Images

Pyongyang reveals its new centrifuge for uranium enrichment, which was built secretively and swiftly, as well as a light-water reactor under construction, suggesting that despite sanctions, the regime is committed to advancing its weapons program. The news comes amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula after forty-six South Koreans were killed when a patrol ship, the Cheonan, was torpedoed and then sank in March. The South blames North Korea for the attack and cuts economic ties. The North denies its involvement and later fires artillery at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.

2010
2011
December 2011

North Korea Heralds New Leader

Kim Jong-un and other top North Korean officials accompany the coffin of Kim Jong-il during the late leader’s funeral procession.
Kim Jong-un and other top North Korean officials accompany the coffin of Kim Jong-il during the late leader’s funeral procession. KCNA/Reuters

Kim Jong-il dies after seventeen years in power and is succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un. The not-yet-thirty-year-old Kim is relatively unknown, and foreign observers anticipate a political struggle until he begins to assert power.

2011
2012
February 29, 2012

Nuclear Operations Briefly Suspended

North Korean leaders attend a parade honoring the seventieth birthday of the recently deceased Kim Jong-il.
North Korean leaders attend a parade honoring the seventieth birthday of the recently deceased Kim Jong-il. David Guttenfelder/AP Photo

Following a meeting between the United States and North Korea in Beijing, North Korea commits to suspend its uranium enrichment operations in Yongbyon, invite IAEA monitors, and carry out a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear testing. In exchange, the United States is to provide tons of food aid. The deal falls apart after North Korea launches a rocket and displays road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles at a military parade.

2012
20132016
February 2013 – December 2016

North’s Nuclear Program Advances Despite Isolation

Kim Jong-un inspects the tip of a rocket warhead.
Kim Jong-un inspects the tip of a rocket warhead. KCNA/Reuters

Diplomacy stalls for several years as the Obama administration opts for “strategic patience,” in which the United States and its partners ratchet up sanctions in hopes that the regime will return to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, North Korea carries out nuclear tests in February 2013 and again in January and September 2016. Its ballistic missile capabilities improve, with more tests of short-, medium-, and long-range missiles carried out under Kim Jong-un than under his father and grandfather combined.

20132016
2017
January 2017 – November 2017

Trump Ratchets up Rhetoric

President Trump tweets a reaction to provocations from North Korea’s Kim.
President Trump tweets a reaction to provocations from North Korea’s Kim. Twitter

President Donald Trump is inaugurated in January 2017 and shifts course in U.S. policy toward North Korea. In September, Pyongyang conducts its sixth nuclear test, which it claims is a hydrogen bomb and raises international alarm due to the yield of its explosion. Trump redesignates North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism in November. U.S.-North Korean relations during Trump’s first year are volatile as Pyongyang boasts it can reach U.S. soil with nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles and the Trump administration threatens a military strike.

2017
2018
March 2018

Trump Agrees to First U.S.-North Korea Summit

South Korea’s national security advisor announces in Washington that Trump has accepted an invitation to meet with Kim in Pyongyang by May. The news comes on the heels of diplomatic overtures between the North and South spurred by the Winter Olympic Games, hosted by South Korea in Pyeongchang.

2018
2018
April 27, 2018

Kim Makes Historic Visit South

Kim and Moon meet in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
Kim and Moon meet in the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. Reuters

Kim becomes the first North Korean leader to cross the border south for a summit with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in at the truce village of Panmunjom. The summit marks the first meeting between the heads of the Koreas in eleven years. The two pledge to convert the armistice that ended the hostilities of the Korean War into a formal peace treaty. They also confirmed the shared goal of achieving a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

2018
2018
May 24, 2018

Trump Calls Off Singapore Summit

Trump’s letter to Kim canceling their meeting.
Trump’s letter to Kim canceling their meeting. The White House

Trump pulls out of the meeting with Kim, citing “anger and hostility” in North Korea’s latest statements. Threats out of Pyongyang had raised doubts about whether the summit would go forward. Still, North Korea had taken some action in recent weeks to demonstrate good faith by releasing three U.S. prisoners and demolishing the nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, where foreign journalists were invited to witness the event.

2018
2018
June 12, 2018

Kim, Trump Pledge New Era of Relations

Kim and Trump shake hands after their summit.
Kim and Trump shake hands after their summit. Susan Walsh/Pool/Reuters

In an about-face, Kim and Trump hold a historic meeting in Singapore, where they signal a desire to change the U.S.-North Korea relationship. The two leaders sign a joint statement pledging to pursue lasting peace and complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, although the declaration provides few details. They also commit to recovering the remains of U.S. soldiers who fought in the Korean War. Separately, Trump says he would suspend U.S.-South Korea military exercises and Kim agrees to destroy a missile-engine test site.

2018
2018
September 18 – 20, 2018

Moon, Kim Hail Progress Toward Nuclear-Free Korea

Moon Jae-in Kim Jong-un third inter-Korean summit Pyongyang.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, pose for photographs with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, at the Heaven Lake of Mt. Paektu in North Korea. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Reuters

In the third summit between Kim and Moon, this time in Pyongyang, the leaders sign a joint declaration outlining steps toward reducing tensions, expanding inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation, and achieving denuclearization. It states that the North will permanently shut down the Dongchang-ri missile test site, allow international inspectors into North Korea, and dismantle its nuclear site pending “corresponding measures” by the United States. An accompanying military declaration outlines steps to curtail ground exercises, establish no-fly and no-sail zones under the jurisdiction of inter-Korean bodies, and transform the demilitarized zone into a peace zone. The two sides also pledge to strengthen economic cooperation.

2018
2019
February 27 – 28, 2019

Second Trump-Kim Summit Ends Early, Without Deal

Trump and Kim speak during their second summit in Hanoi.
Trump and Kim speak during their second summit in Hanoi. Leah Millis/Reuters

Trump and Kim’s second summit, held in Vietnam, collapses after the leaders disagree over sanctions relief and denuclearization. Trump says Kim agreed to dismantle the nuclear and fissile material production facilities at Yongbyon in exchange for complete sanctions relief, but the U.S. president wanted more substantial steps on denuclearization and verification. North Korean officials dispute Trump’s account, saying Kim demanded only partial sanctions relief. Both leaders leave Vietnam early, without signing a planned joint statement, but indicate talks will continue. Trump says they parted on “friendly” terms, while North Korea’s foreign ministry warns it will not change its position.

2019
2019
June 30, 2019

Trump Steps Into North Korea, Vows to Revive Talks

Trump and Kim stand next to each other and step over the line separating North Korea and South Korea at the DMZ.
Trump and Kim meet in the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Trump and Kim agree to restart stalled nuclear negotiations after meeting in the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea. Stepping across the border, Trump becomes the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea. In statements to the press, both leaders highlight their “great relationship.” But in the following months, Pyongyang rebuffs U.S. efforts to resume negotiations and continues to test-launch missiles, while Washington maintains its sanctions.

2019
2019
October 6, 2019

North Korea Ends Negotiations With U.S.

North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong-gil, speaks with reporters.
North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Myong-gil, speaks with reporters in Stockholm following working-level talks with U.S. officials. Kyodo/AP Photo

During their first working-level talks since February, in Stockholm, Sweden, U.S. and North Korean officials fail to reach an agreement. A spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry says Pyongyang will not resume negotiations until Washington takes a “substantial step” to end what it calls “hostile” policies such as strict sanctions and military exercises with South Korea. This marks the start of a period with nearly zero communication between U.S. and North Korean officials.

2019
2020
June 9, 2020

Inter-Korean Dialogue Disrupted

South Korean soldiers set a barricade at a checkpoint near the demilitarized zone.
South Korean soldiers set a barricade at a checkpoint near the demilitarized zone. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images

North Korean state media announces that the country will “shut down all contact” with South Korea after it called on Seoul to prevent activists from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. Days later, North Korea destroys a joint liaison office set up in 2018 to improve inter-Korean ties. North Korea briefly restores communication lines in August 2021 but shuts them down again after South Korea participates in military exercises with the United States. Communication lines are restored again that October.
 

2020
2021
April 2021

Biden Looks to Restart Talks

U.S. special envoy to North Korea Sung Kim and South Korean special envoy Noh Kyu-duk stand at podiums and speak to each other.
South Korean special envoy Noh Kyu-duk and U.S. special envoy to North Korea Sung Kim attend a briefing in Seoul in October 2021. Ahn Young-joon/Reuters

Several months after U.S. President Joe Biden takes office, his administration completes a review of policy toward North Korea. The White House adopts a middle-ground approach between Obama’s “strategic patience” and Trump’s “grand bargain,” which promised full sanctions relief in exchange for complete denuclearization. U.S. officials say they are ready to restart talks without preconditions, but Pyongyang doesn’t express interest.

2021
2022
January 2022

North Korea Ramps Up Missile Tests

People watch a news broadcast showing file footage of a North Korean missile test in January 2022.
People watch a news broadcast showing file footage of a North Korean missile test in January 2022. Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images

North Korea conducts seven missile tests in January, more than in all of 2021. Washington urges the UN Security Council to impose more sanctions on Pyongyang, but Beijing and Moscow block the proposal. Kim suggests that North Korea could end its self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, which was established in 2018, to counter the United States’ “hostile moves,” including the push for additional sanctions. At the end of the month, North Korea test-launches an intermediate-range ballistic missile. It is believed to be the country’s most powerful launch since late 2017, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it is a violation of the moratorium.

2022