North Korean timeline towards Inevitable War

POLITICS - The following is timeline of events that have occurred on the Korean Peninsula.

1945 - Japan surrenders to the United States and its allies. Japan's colonies are divided up, including the Korea Peninsula which it had annexed in the late 19th century. Korea was divided between the Soviet Union and the United States, ignoring the wishes of Koreans to stay unified.

1950 to 1953 - Unable to reach an agreement over who should control Korea the northern half of Korea and the southern half of Korea (roughly divided down the 38th parallel) went to war, but nobody really won and eventually a ceasefire was called and a DMZ constructed between North and South Korea.

January 17th 1968 - 31 North Korean commandos crossed the border disguised as South Korean soldiers in an attempt to assassinate South Korean President Park Chung Hee. 29 of the commandos were killed, one committed suicide, and the last captured. Reports vary but its believed 68 South Koreans and 3 Americans were killed in the assassination attempt.

October 1968 - 130 North Korean commandos entered the Ulchin and Samcheok areas in Gangwon-do. 110 of them were killed, 7 were captured and 13 escaped.

October 1969 - North Korean infiltrators killed four American soldiers near the DMZ.

November 1974 - The first of 17 North Korean infiltration tunnels under the DMZ is discovered.

June 1976 - Three North Korean infiltrators and six South Korean soldiers were killed near the DMZ.

August 18th 1976 - The Axe Murder Incident resulted in the death of two American soldiers in the Joint Security Area.

May 29th/30th 1993 - North Korea tests a series of medium range missiles capable of reaching Japan. North Korea later trades this missile technology with Iran in exchange for oil.

May and June 1996 - Five North Korean naval ships entered South Korean waters on the west coast and withdrew after a four-hour confrontation with Southern forces. In June 1996 three North Korean naval ships did the same thing three-hours in the same area.

September 17th 1996: - 26 North Koreans beach their submarine on the eastern coast near Jeongdongjin. 11 were killed by North Korean commandos. 13 were killed by South Korean soldiers as they tried to escape back across the DMZ over the next 49 days, one was captured and one escaped. 13 South Korean soldiers and 4 civilians were killed. South Korean diplomat, Choi Duk Keun, was found poisoned by a substance similar to that found on the submarine. A South Korean taxi driver who first spotted the intruders and alerted the authorities was given a hefty reward.

April and July 1997 - In two separate incidents North Korean soldiers crossed the DMZ and fired at South Korean positions. The July incident resulted in a 23-minute exchange of heavy gunfire.

June 1997 - Three North Korean naval ships entered South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea and fired at South Korean naval ships.

1998 - North Korea did two long range missile tests disguised as attempts to enter satellites into space. The first missile burnt up over the Pacific Ocean while the 2nd missile failed after only 42 seconds.

June 22nd 1998 - A North Korean midget submarine was caught in South Korean fishing nets in South Korean waters. All nine submarine crew were found dead in an apparent group suicide. North Korea blamed the South for causing the death of the crew.

June 1999 - A nine-day confrontation started when North Korean ships intruded into disputed waters near the Northern Limit Line on the Yellow Sea resulting in a battle that sunk a North Korean torpedo boat and damaging five others.

February, March and April 2001 - On three separate occasions North Korean naval ships boats entered South Korean waters briefly over the Northern Limit Line but retreated when challenged by the South Korean Navy. 12 maritime intrusions were reported in 2001.

June 29th 2002: North Korean naval ships cross into South Korean waters, provoked a gun battle and killed 4 South Korean military personnel. Its unknown how many North Koreans died in the battle.

February 19th 2003 - A North Korean fighter jet entered South Korean airspace over the Yellow Sea, the first since 1983. Six South Korean fighter planes responded, and the North Korean plane retreated after two minutes.

January 17th 2006 - Iran tested a North Korean designed Nodong-B missile.

October 9th 2006 - North Korea successfully test detonates a small nuclear bomb underground. Shortly after North Korea conducted several medium and long range missile tests.

April 2009 - North Korea’s Taepodong-2 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, the first successful long range missile test by the North. Its capable of reaching Alaska or Hawaii. North Korea pretended it was just an attempt to launch a satellite.

May 25th 2009 - North Korea successfully test detonates a second nuclear bomb underground, this time it is much bigger than the last one. The United Nations responds with more economic sanctions.

November 11th 2009 - North Korean naval ship attacks a South Korean ship in the Yellow Sea, but is set on fire during the incident.

March 26th 2010 - A North Korean submarine sank South Korea's Cheonan warship using a torpedo. 46 South Korean sailors were killed in the attack.

Okay so here's why war with North Korea is likely inevitable: The skirmishes and technological upgrades are increasing. Its only a matter of time before North Korea does a test or attack which is so big it can only lead to war.

That and the fact that North Korea has withdrawn from peace talks altogether suggests they're getting ready for something. Combine that with the fact their leader Kim Jong Il is dwindling in power while his 26-year-old son Kimg Jong Un exerts more and more power suggests the younger generation in North Korea may be spoiling for a fight.

It would be nice if North and South Korea could just get along and have a peaceful reunification but it doesn't seem to be heading that way.

The good news is the USA years ago deployed a series of missile destroying Patriot PAC-3 missiles and also the USS Mustin, a guided missile destroyer, in cooperation with the South Korean and Japanese governments which are both increasingly paranoid of a North Korean attack. How accurate their ability to shoot down enemy missiles is not publicly known.

The bad news is that South Korea's capitol Seoul is a mere 25 km from the DMZ and has a population of 24.5 million. A nuclear strike on Seoul would be devastating.