A TIMELINE OF NORTH KOREA-U.S. FLASHPOINTS

The United States and North Korea have no formal diplomatic relations. The White House appears to be losing patience with softer efforts aimed at persuading the nation to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Here are some of the flashpoints between Washington and Pyongyang. 2017 Aug. 29: North Korea fires a missile that travels over Japan and lands in the Pacific Ocean. Aug. 9: Hours after President Trump’s threat of “fire and fury,” North Korea announces its military is “examining the operational plan” to strike areas around Guam, a U.S. territory with 160,000 residents and a key military installation. Aug. 8: Trump threatens to unleash “fire and fury like the world has never seen” on North Korea if it continues to make threats. July 28: After launching its first intercontinental ballistic missile three weeks earlier, North Korea fires a second test of its Hwasong-14. Experts say the missile has the capacity to reach the U.S. mainland. Trump blasts China afterward on Twitter: “I am very disappointed in China ... they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk.” July 4: North Korea launches its first ICBM, the Hwasong-14. June: North Korea fires four surface-to-ship cruise missiles into the Sea of Japan. May: Following the inauguration of new South Korean president Moon Jae-in, North Korea fires medium-range ballistic missiles that travel several hundred miles — far enough to reach U.S. bases in Japan. 2016 September: North Korea’s fifth, and possibly biggest, nuclear test is carried out on the anniversary of its founding, in continued defiance of U.N. sanctions. February: A long-range rocket puts a satellite into orbit. The U.S. says the satellite is “tumbling in orbit” and not working properly. 2015 September: North Korea threatens a nuclear attack against the U.S. Washington calls on Pyongyang to fulfill international peace obligations. 2013 February: New U.N. sanctions are issued after a third nuclear test is staged, the first under new leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea claims it tested a “miniaturized” nuclear device that security experts fear is harder to detect. No independent confirmation. 2009 May: A second nuclear test, also underground, prompts angry responses from world leaders. 2006 October: The North’s first nuclear test is conducted at an underground facility. U.N. imposes broad array of sanctions. 2005 February: North Korea admits it has produced nuclear weapons that it says are for self defense and says it is not interested in disarmament talks.

AFP/GETTY IMAGES North Korea launches four ballistic missiles during a drill on an unknown date.