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North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui says that North Korea will not hold any talks with Japan on any issue, including the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea. This follows an announcement by Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in which he stated his desire to meet with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un "without any preconditions".
2024-03-29

Japan places its Self-Defense Forces on high alert as defence minister Yasukazu Hamada says that Japan could potentially shoot down the North Korean reconnaissance satellite that is expected to be launched by Pyongyang if it falls in Japanese territory.
2023-04-22

An unidentified source says a North Korean 5,500-ton freighter named "Chongbong", which is on the U.N. Security Council blacklist, sinks with 6,500 tons of iron off the coast of Shimane Prefecture in western Japan. All 21 crew members on board are rescued by a North Korean oil ship passing nearby.
2021-05-23

Australia and Canada deploy surveillance aircraft to Japan to monitor ship-to-ship transfers between North Korean vessels that bypass United Nations sanctions. The aircraft join a warship already deployed by the United Kingdom.
2018-04-28

The International Criminal Court rejects a petition to investigate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for war crimes. The petition by Japanese families of alleged victims was turned down because the alleged wrongdoing predates Japan's 2007 joining of the ICC.
2018-04-6

A North Korean missile flies over Hokkaido, Japan, triggering the J-Alert system, following a similar event on 29 August.
2017-09-15

North Korea test-launches what is presumed to be its first intercontinental ballistic missile 933 kilometers into the Sea of Japan within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone. An American expert theorizes the ICBM, which reached an altitude of 2,802 km, could potentially reach the U.S. state of Alaska.
2017-07-4

North Korea launches two ballistic missiles, one of which explodes immediately after its launch while the main part of the other lands in Japan's economic exclusion zone.
2016-08-3

Japan places its military on alert over a possible North Korean ballistic-missile launch after detecting "increased activity" at a North Korean missile site. Japan's Minister of Defense, Gen Nakatani, has ordered Kongō-class destroyers stationed in the Sea of Japan, equipped with Aegis combat systems, to target any North Korean projectiles heading for Japan.
2016-01-29

North Korea declares that Japan will face annihilation if it threatens to wage war. Japan declares that the Patriot missiles deployed in Okinawa Island will be permanent.
2013-04-12