Hisory of Post Korean War North Korean attacks on South Korea

Timeline: North Korean attacks

Amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, and multiple threats from North Korea of attacks on US and South Korean targets, the BBC looks at some of the major attacks and incursions which have been blamed on Pyongyang.

January 1967

North Korean artillery targets a South Korean vessel, the Dangpo, patrolling in the Yellow Sea with 70 sailors on board. The ship sinks, killing 39 of the crew.

January 1968

A team of 31 North Korean commandos crosses into South Korea and breaks into the presidential palace, the Blue House, in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. The attempt is crushed by South Korean security forces, Mr Park survives but seven South Koreans and most of the commandos are killed.

January 1968

The research ship the USS Pueblo is captured by North Korea while on a surveillance mission. One crew member dies during the capture and the remaining 82 are taken to prison camps in the North.

The prisoners are released 11 months later after the US gave an apology and assurances the vessel had not been spying - both were later retracted. The Pueblo remains in North Korea as a museum - the only US warship in captivity.

December 1969

A South Korean airliner is hijacked and forced to fly to North Korea. Dozens of passengers are taken hostage. In January, 39 of the hostages were released but the remaining 12 are not known to have been freed.

August 1974

President Park's wife dies during a second attempt on his life - she is hit by stray bullets after a suspected North Korean agent opens fire at a public function.

October 1983

North Korea bombs a hotel in Rangoon, Burma, during a visit by President Chun Doo-hwan. He survives but 21 people, including some government ministers, are killed.

November 1987

A bomb, allegedly planted by North Korean agents, explodes on board a South Korean airliner travelling to Seoul from Baghdad. All 115 passengers and crew are killed.

September 1996

A North Korean submarine runs aground near Gangneung, off the east coast of South Korea, while allegedly conducting a spy mission. The crew of 26 escape to the shore, sparking a manhunt.

Eleven of the crew are found dead, apparently shot by their compatriots, but the rest go on the run for nearly two months. One alleged spy escapes, one is captured by South Korean security forces and the rest are killed. Several South Koreans also die in the operation.

March 2010

A 1,200-tonne Corvette, the Cheonan, goes down near the disputed maritime border with North Korea - the Northern Limit Line. Many of the crew members escape but 46 are killed. After an extensive investigation, Seoul rules that a torpedo explosion directly beneath the vessel sank it and that the only "plausible explanation" is that North Korea was to blame. Pyongyang denies any involvement.

November 2010

North Korea shells a South Korean border island, Yeonpyeong, killing four South Koreans, including two civilians. It says it was responding to military exercises in the South.

Source:BBC