Korean Peninsula Events

1950 Jun 25 North Korean army invades South Korea
June 25, 1950 At approximately 4 a.m. (Korean Standard Time) on a rainy Sunday morning Democratic People's Republic of Korea Army (DPRK - North Korea) artillery and mortars open fire o...
1950 Jul 5 Battle of Osan
The Battle of Osan was the first engagement between United States and North Korean forces during the Korean War. U.S. Task Force Smith of 540 men suffered 180 casualties while inflicting ...
1950 Aug
to 1950 Dec
Battle of Pusan Perimeter
The Battle of Pusan Perimeter was fought in August and September 1950 between United Nations Command forces combined with South Korean forces and the forces of North Korea. The Pusan Peri...
1950 Nov 26
to 1950 Dec 13
 Battle of the Chosin Reservoir
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as Battle of Changjin Lake (simplified Chinese: 长津湖之战; pinyin: Cháng Jīn Hū Zhī Zhàn), was a battle in the Korean War in which 30,000 United Nat...
1951 Mar 23
to 1951 Mar 28
 Operation Courageous
Operation Courageous was a military operation performed by the United States Army during the Korean War designed to trap large numbers of Chinese and North Korean troops between the Han a...
1952 Oct 14
to 1952 Nov 25
 Battle of Triangle Hill
The Battle of Triangle Hill, also known as Operation Showdown or the Shangganling Campaign (simplified Chinese: 上甘岭战役; pinyin: Shànggānlǐng Zhànyì),[nb 2] was a protracted military engage...
1953 Mar
to 1953 Jul
Battle of Pork Chop Hill
The Battle of Pork Chop Hill comprises a pair of related Korean War infantry battles during the spring and summer of 1953. These were fought while the U.S. and the Communist Chinese and K...
1953 May 28
to 1953 May 29
 Battle of the Hook
The third Battle of the Hook was a battle of the Korean War that took place between a United Nations force, consisting mostly of British troops, supported on their flanks by American and ...
1953 Jul 27 Korean Armistice Agreement
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, with neither side able to claim outright victory. Fifty years on, the truce is still all that technically prevents North Korea and the US ...
1968 Jan 21 North Korean Commandos Cross DMZ in an Attempt to Assassinate South Korean President Park Chung Hee
On January 21, 1968, 31 North Korean commandos snuck into South Korea in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee. The teams, organized into groups of six, made their way throug...
1996 Sep 18 North Korean Submarine Lands Near Gangneung Sparking Deadly 49-Day Manhunt
The 1996 Gangneung submarine infiltration incident occurred on September 18, 1996, near the South Korean town of Gangneung. On September 15, a North Korean Sang-O class submarine subma...
1999 Jun 15 First Battle of Yeonpyeong
The First Battle of Yeonpyeong was a skirmish between naval units of North and South Korea. It did little to settle the dispute about control of the area and was an embarrassment to the N...
2002 Jun 29 Second Battle of Yeonpyeong
On June 29, 2002 a North Korean patrol boat crossed the northern limit line and was warned to turn back. Shortly afterward a second patrol craft crossed the line and it too was warned to ...
2006 Oct 9 North Korea tests its first atomic bomb to become the world's eighth nuclear power
North Korea’s Nuclear Test: Motivations, Implications, and U.S. Options On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced it conducted a nuclear test. After several days of evaluation, U.S. au...
2009 Mar 17 North Korea captures 2 American journalists
Two American journalists detained by North Korean soldiers are believed to have been sent to Pyongyang for questioning, a news report said Sunday. North Korea said Saturday it was inve...
2009 May 27 North Korea Withdraws from 1953 Armistice
SEOUL (AFP) — North Korea said Wednesday it was abandoning the truce that ended the Korean war and warned it could launch a military attack on the South, two days after testing an atomic ...
2009 Jun 2 Kim Jong-il Names Successor
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, has named his youngest son as his successor, South Korean newspaper reports said today , the latest in a series of dramatic developments in the world...
2009 Jun 8 North Korea sentences 2 American journalists to 12 years hard labor
A North Korean court sentenced two U.S. journalists to 12 years in a labor camp Monday, as the government of Kim Jong Il continued to ratchet up tension with the United States and its nei...
2009 Jun 9 North Korea Threatens a "Merciless Offensive" Involving Nuclear Weapons
Consistent with the highly belligerent posture North Korea has taken in the past three weeks, and the “rapid-fire series of provocations“ it has initiated since the beginning of 2009, Pyo...
2009 Jun 15 President Obama Welcomes President Lee Myung-Bak in Washington
As North Korea threatens nuclear war, President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will be eager to show the North the unity of their alliance and a determination not t...
2009 Jun 17 US Begins Tracking North Korean Freighter Suspected of Carrying Prohibited Materials
A North Korean ship shadowed by an American Navy destroyer and possibly heading toward Myanmar on Sunday could pose the first test of how far the United States and its allies will go unde...
2009 Jun 23 North Korea Informs Neighboring Nations of Planned Naval Combat Drill
(CNN) -- North Korea is warning the world to stay out of part of its eastern waters for 16 days, starting Thursday, saying it will hold a military drill, Japanese officials said. Nort...
2009 Jun 23 South Korea Unveils 'Red Shark' Vertical-Launch Anti-Sub Missile
And as tension continues to escalate on the Korean peninsula, South Korea has unveiled its new guided missile system to beef up its naval defense. South Korea is the second country in ...
2009 Jun 24 North Korea Threatens to "Wipe Out" US
North Korea threatened on Wednesday to "wipe out" the United States in the event of a new war on the Korean Peninsula, as international observers watched for signs the regime would perfor...
2009 Jul 1 Suspect North Korean Ship Trailed by US Navy Reverses Course
A North Korean cargo ship being closely tailed by the United States Navy appears to be changing course, and may be returning to North Korea. The ship has come to be seen as an initial tes...
2009 Jul 4 North Korea Fires Seven More Ballistic Missiles
US Vice President Joseph Biden on Sunday dismissed North Korea's latest series of missile launches, saying the communist regime was engaged in "attention seeking" as it faced increasing i...
2010 Aug 16 US and South Korea Begin New Set of Military Drills Despite North Korean and Chinese Objections
South Korea and the United States kicked off their latest round of military exercises on Monday allegedly aimed at enhancing joint defense capabilities and deterring potential provocation...
2011 Jul 26 Heavy Rainfalls Trigger Deadly Flash Floods in South Korea
Unrelenting rain pounding Seoul, South Korea, and the southern part of the country is causing historic flooding and extensive landslides. The downpours, which are being called the heavies...