2014 in North Korea
The following lists events that happened in 2014 in North Korea.
Events
January
February
- February 5 - North Korea and South Korea hold meetings to discuss visitation reunions of families separated by the Korean War.
- February 10 - North Korea withdraws an invitation to a United States envoy to discuss the release of Kenneth Bae.
- February 11 - Talks between North Korea and the United States occur, with North and South Korea scheduled to start high-level talks tomorrow.
- February 15 - A North Korean cargo ship is allowed to leave the Panama Canal.
- February 17 - A United Nations report accuses North Korea of atrocities and calls for an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
- February 19 - Botswana ends diplomatic relations with North Korea following a UN report on the latter's human rights record.
March
- March 3 - North Korea announces that it will release Australian Christian missionary John Short on account of his age.
- March 28 - South Korea captures a North Korean fishing boat that had crossed into their waters amid rising tensions between the two neighboring countries.
- March 31 - North and South Korea exchange artillery fire across sea boundaries.
April
- April 4 - South Korea test-fires a new ballistic missile with a range of 500 kilometres and hopes to extend its range to 800 kilometres so that it can reach anywhere in North Korea.
- April 4 - A Mongolian-flagged cargo ship sinks off the coast of South Korea, with most of the 16 North Korean crew members reported missing.
- April 25 - North Korea announces that it has detained a 24-year-old US tourist, Matthew Todd Miller, for "rash behavior" during the immigration process.
- April 29 - North Korea warns South Korea that it will conduct live firing near the disputed maritime border.
May
- May 9 - South Korea's Ministry of National Defense announces that three drones found in their territory came from North Korea.
- May 13 - An apartment block in Pyongyang containing 100 families collapses.
- May 18 - Officials report the collapse of a 23-story block of flats that is believed to have killed multiple residents, in a rare public apology.
- May 19 - An apartment building collapses in Pyongyang, with casualties estimated to be in the hundreds.
- May 22 - South Korean media reports that North Korea fired shells in a disputed area near a Republic of Korea Navy ship.
June
- June 6 - North Korea announces that it arrested an American tourist last month for alleged inappropriate behavior.
- June 17 - North Korean propaganda videos show that they have developed a cruise missile similar to the Russian Kh-35 model.
- June 30 - North Korea says it will put on trial two American tourists, Jeffrey Fowle and Michael Miller, for crimes against the state.
July
- July 2 - South Korea reports that North Korea fired two short range missiles into the Pacific Ocean from the coastal city of Wonsan.
- July 3 - The government of Japan lifts some sanctions on North Korea following an agreement to re-investigate the fate of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
- July 9 - South Korea claims that North Korea has fired two short range missiles into the ocean to the east of the Korean Peninsula.
- July 13 - Japan's Defence Ministry claims that North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
- July 14 - South Korea claims that North Korea has fired dozens of artillery shells into the sea near the disputed border.
September
- September 14 - North Korea holds a trial for American tourist Matthew Todd Miller who was detained in April and sentences him to six years of hard labor.
- September 26 - North Korea acknowledges that Kim Jong-un is suffering from "discomfort", after a three-week absence from state media photographs.
October
- October 7 - There is an exchange of gunfire as a North Korean patrol boat breaches the South Korean western sea border.
- October 13 - Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea makes his first public appearance in five weeks.
- October 21 - North Korea releases American Jeffrey Edward Fowle five months after detaining him for leaving a Bible at a hotel.
November
- November 8 - North Korea releases American detainees Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller.
- November 13 - Cuba defends North Korea by circulating an amendment to a European-Japanese draft resolution recommending the referral of North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
- November 20 - North Korea threatens to conduct another nuclear test in response to a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution passed on Tuesday recommending the Security Council authorise a probe into human rights abuses.
December
- December 2 - The FBI launches a probe into a massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures, believing the leadership of North Korea to be responsible.
- December 2 - South Korea approves a plan by the Christian Council of Korea to set up a large Christmas tree near the border with North Korea despite ongoing tensions.
- December 3 - Transparency International issues its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index with Denmark achieving the highest rating and North Korea and Somalia tied with the lowest ranking.
- December 19 - A South Korean court orders the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party citing pro-North Korean stances.
- December 20 - Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
- The North Korean government denies the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations's (FBI) accusation of involvement in hacking Sony's computers, asking the U.S. for a joint investigation and threatening "serious consequences" if the United States refuses the offer of cooperation.
- The United States rejects the offer from North Korea and then seeks help from China instead.
- December 22 - North Korea experiences severe internet outages.
