BackNorth Korea’s missile launches and nuclear detonations: A timeline
Here's how North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programme developed over the years
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Seoul: North Korea fired four ballistic missiles early on Monday with three falling into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the government in Tokyo said. South Korea’s Yonhap News said the regime may have launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, though there was no official confirmation of that.
Here is a history of North Korea’s rocket launches and nuclear detonations:
1976-81: Begins development using SCUD-B missile from the Soviet Union and launchpad from Egypt
1984: First SCUD-B missile test firing
1988: Operational deployment of SCUD-B and SCUD-C missiles
1990: First Rodong missile test firing
1998: Operational deployment of Rodong missiles, which have a range of 1,300 kilometers. Firing of Taepodong-1 missile, which North Korea says was a satellite launch
2005: North Korea announces possession of nuclear weapons and its withdrawal from six-party talks aimed at ending its atomic program
July 2006: Taepodong-2, Rodong and SCUD missiles test firings. Taepodong-2 is a long-range missile that could eventually travel 10,000 kilometers and be able to strike targets in the U.S.
October 2006: Korean Central News Agency announces “a successful nuclear test"
2007: Operational deployment of Rodong missiles
April 2009: Firing of Taepodong-2 missile, which North Korea says was satellite launch. United Nations strengthens sanctions and North Korea responds by withdrawing from six-party nuclear disarmament talks
May 2009: North Korea carries out second nuclear test
July 2009: Test-firing of SCUD and Rodong missiles
December 2011: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il dies, clearing way for son Kim Jong Un to take power
April 2012: North Korea says Unha-3 rocket launch failed
December 2012: North Korea launches Unha-3 rocket that puts its first satellite into space
February 2013: North Korea conducts third underground nuclear test
August 2013: North Korea reported to have restarted nuclear reactor to produce plutonium
May 2015: North Korea claims to have tested a submarine-launched missile; says it developed technology to mount nuclear warhead on a missile
July 2014: North Korea conducts series of missile tests ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seoul
September 2015: North Korea threatens nuclear attack against US and reaffirms its main reactor is operational. South Korean president Park Geun Hye says North would “pay a price" for fourth test
December 2015: Kim Jong Un says North Korea is “ready to detonate" a hydrogen bomb
6 January 2016: North Korea says it successfully tests hydrogen bomb
7 February 2016: North Korea launches a long-range rocket that it says successfully put a satellite into orbit
24 August 2016: North Korea successfully launches a ballistic missile from a submarine
5 September 2016: North Korea fires three ballistic missiles about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), at least one of which entered Japan’s air defence zone
9 September 2016: North Korea conducts fifth nuclear test
16 October 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile that immediately explodes after launch
12 February 2017: North Korea fires an intermediate-range Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile into nearby seas, drawing a joint rebuke from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump, who were meeting in Florida. It flew 500 kilometers (310 miles) into the sea east of North Korea
6 March 2017: North Korea fires four ballistic missiles, with three falling into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Bloomberg
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