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Key dates in North Korea's drive to acquire nuclear weapons:
North Korea and the Soviet Union sign nuclear research agreements under which North Korean scientists are trained in nuclear physics in the Soviet Union.
North Korea sets up an atomic weapons training centre with Soviet assistance.
North Korea and China sign a nuclear cooperation accord.
North Korea leader Kim Il-Sung orders the construction of an atomic energy research complex in Yongbyon, 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Pyongyang.
North Korean leader Kim visits China which reportedly agrees to train more North Korean nuclear scientists.
Work begins on a five-megawatt research reactor at Yongbyon.
North Korea signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but not the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which it links to the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from South Korea.
Five-megawatt research reactor operational. North Korea begins work on a 50-megawatt and 200-megawatt reactors.
US satellite pictures show a reprocessing plant at the Yongbyon complex. Washington accused North Korea of actively pursuing nuclear weapons. Pyongyang denies the charge.
Former US president George Bush announces the withdrawal of all tactical nuclear weapons based overseas, including in South Korea. South and North Korea sign an agreement to keep the peninsula nuclear weapons free.
North Korea and the US sign a nuclear safeguard accord after Pyongyang vows to freeze and then dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
North Korea reportedly admits in October to US special envoy James Kelly that it is running a uranium enrichment program in violation of the 1994 accord.
Pyongyang on January 10 withdraws from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In October it says it has produced enough weapons-grade plutonium for half-a-dozen atomic bombs.
Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan's atomic program, admits proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
On February 10, North Korea says it has made nuclear weapons. All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.
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