SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A North Korean missile launch Saturday is the latest development in an ongoing game of brinkmanship this year with President Donald Trump's new U.S. administration. A look at key moments this year:
Jan. 1: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says in a New Year's address that North Korean preparations for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile have "reached the final stage."
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Jan. 2: Trump, then president-elect, tweets: "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!"
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Jan. 20: Trump inaugurated as president.
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Feb. 12: North Korea tests a new midrange ballistic missile in its first major challenge to Trump as president. It says the missile used solid fuel, an advance that would increase a weapon's mobility and make it harder for outsiders to detect a coming launch.
Trump says ‘no reason’ for costly war games with South Korea, b...
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March 6: North Korea fires four ballistic missiles that fly about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), with three of them landing in waters near Japan. It later says it was simulating nuclear strikes on U.S. military bases in Japan.
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March 19: North Korea conducts a ground test of a new high-thrust rocket engine it describes as a breakthrough in the country's space program and efforts to develop strategic weapons.
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April 5: North Korea fires a missile from its east coast on the eve of a summit meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The missile only flies about 60 kilometers (40 miles) before falling into the sea.
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April 6: Trump orders a missile strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapon attack. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson later says the move carries a message for any nation operating outside of international norms. He doesn't specify North Korea, but the context is clear.
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April 12: Trump says in a televised interview that the U.S. is sending "an armada" of vessels to the Korean peninsula, after the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is ordered to head there from Singapore. The move further fans fears in some quarters that Trump is weighing military action.
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April 14: The Trump administration settles on its North Korea strategy after a two-month review: "Maximum pressure and engagement." The announcement seems to rule out immediate military intervention, though U.S. officials continue to say that all options are on the table.
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April 15: North Korea marks the birth anniversary of founder Kim Il Sung with a massive military parade that includes previously unseen rocket canisters and launcher trucks. Analysts say the large canisters and trucks point to the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles and launch systems.
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April 16: North Korea fires a missile from an eastern coastal area, but the launch apparently fails. U.S. officials say that the missile was likely a KN-17, a new Scud-type missile that North Korea is developing.
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April 25: North Korea holds a major live-fire drill — but not a nuclear or intercontinental missile test — on the anniversary of the founding of its military. The exercise on its east coast includes more than 300 large-caliber artillery pieces and torpedo-attacks on mock enemy warships, according to its state media.
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April 28: Tillerson chairs a U.N. Security Council meeting in which the United States and China offer starkly different strategies for addressing the North Korean nuclear threat.
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April 29: South Korean and U.S. officials say a North Korean midrange ballistic missile, presumably a KN-17, failed shortly after launch.
