Diplomatic tensions: United States and North Korea since 1945

US Air Force F-86 "Sabre" jets patrol skylanes over "MIG-Alley" in the northwest of North Korea, taken on Sept 5, 1953

WAR ON THE PENINSULA

1945

The peninsula is divided along the 38th parallel between the Soviet-backed regime of Kim Il-Sung in the North and a South under United States protection

1950

North Korea invades the South. US intervenes to lead a coalition that retakes Seoul

1953

An armistice -- not a full-fledged peace treaty -- is signed and Washington imposes sanctions on Pyongyang

SPY SHIPS AND SPY PLANES

1968

The spy ship USS Pueblo is captured by North Korea. After 11 months, its 83 crew members are released. According to Pyongyang, the ship violated its territorial waters, a charge the US denies

1969

North Korea shoots down a US spy plane

USS Pueblo captured Jan 23, 1968

BLACKLIST

Protesters in Seoul demand North Korea's apology for the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner, during a rally in Oct 2000

1987

Bomb allegedly planted by two North Korean agents on a Korean Air flight explodes over the Andaman Sea, killing all 115 on board

1988

Washington puts North Korea on its blacklist of state supporters of terrorism

NEW CONTACTS, NEW LEADER

1994

June: US President Jimmy Carter visits Pyongyang, meets North Korean leader Kim Il Sung

July: Kim Il Sung dies and is succeeded by his son Kim  Jong Il

October: Pyongyang signs treaty with US, commits to freezing and dismantling nuclear program in exchange for the construction of civilian reactors

Thousands of people in front of a giant statue of North Korean President Kim Il Sung, who died on Jul 9, 1994

MISSILE DIPLOMACY

Image from the Korea News Service released on Sept 4, 1998 shows the launching of North Korean multi-stage rocket

1998

North Korea test-fires its first long-range missile

1999

Kim Jong-Il declares a moratorium on missile tests. Washington relaxes sanctions on North Korea

2000

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visits Pyongyang, prompting brief thaw in relations

"AXIS OF EVIL"

2002

US President George W. Bush labels North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil"

2004

Pyongyang refuses to negotiate with George W. Bush, denouncing him as a tyrant and political imbecile

2005

North Korea ends test moratorium blaming the Bush administration's "hostile" policy

2006

North Korea conducts its first nuclear test

NEW KIM ON THE BLOCK

2009

North Korea conducts second underground nuclear test

2011

Kim Jong Il dies. His son Kim Jong Un takes power

2013

Kim Jong Un conducts his first nuclear test

2016

Two more nuclear tests in North Korea

"FIRE AND FURY"

Photo released Nov 30, 2017 by KCNA shows launching of Hwasong- 15 missile which Pyongyang claims is capable of reaching all parts of the US

2017

Series of new missile tests. Kim declares "the entire US territory is now within our ICBM range"

June: American student Otto Warmbier sent back to the US with brain damage a!er months of detention in North Korea. Dies within a few days

August: US President Donald Trump threatens "fire and fury" if Pyongyang continues to threaten the United States

Sept 3: North Korea carries out its sixth nuclear test, claiming it to be a hydrogen bomb

A meeting of minds?

2018

Mar 25-28: Kim meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in secretive Beijing visit, his first trip abroad as leader of North Korea

Apr 27:  Historic meeting of Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Demilitarized Zone on the North-South border

May 9: Former CIA chief and newly appointed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Pyongyang to finalize details for a scheduled June 12 meeting between Kim Jong Un and US President  Donald Trump

May 30: Kim Jong Un's right- hand man Kim Yong Chol flies into New York for meetings with Pompeo, becoming the most senior North Korean o#icial to visit the US in 18 years