North Korea intensifies its nuclear threat by reactivating its nuclear reactor and other facilities at Yongbyon.
President Jiang Zemin consults with U.S. President George W. Bush regarding P.R.C. attempts to halt North Korea’s nuclear brinksmanship.
The U.S. says North Korea has admitted to having a secret weapons program. The U.S. decides to halt oil shipments to the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
North Korea announces that it will withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a key international agreement aimed at preventing the spread of atomic weapons.
Xinhua, the state-run news agency of the P.R.C., reports that President Jiang Zemin expressed his disagreement with North Korea’s withdrawal from the NPT in a telephone conversation with U.S. President George W. Bush, the first clear expression of China’s support for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Colin Powell visits China seeking further discussion and calls on the IAEA to refer the North Korean nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council for resolution.
South Korea asks China to use its influence with North Korea to try to reduce tension over the nuclear issue.
Russia offers to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program.
The first round of Six-Party Talks is held in Beijing. The talks achieve no significant breakthroughs. North Korea proposes a step-by-step solution, calling for the United States to conclude a “non-aggression treaty,” normalize bilateral diplomatic relations, refrain from hindering North Korea’s “economic cooperation” with other countries, complete the reactors promised under the Agreed Framework, resume suspended fuel oil shipments, and increase food aid.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi outlines six points of consensus that have been reached by the end of the first round of Six-Party Talks, including a commitment to resolve the nuclear issue through peaceful means and dialogue, and pursuing a nuclear-free Korean peninsula while still considering North Korea’s security.
