North Korea Missiles Launches Complete Timeline: A Look At Pyongyang’s Nuclear Progress Over The Years

North Korea has angered several countries — mostly South Korea, Japan and the U.S. — over its repeated nuclear and missile tests. These tests have resulted in stricter sanctions by the United Nations and world powers, but the reclusive nation continues to carry out such launches in defiance.

On Sunday, Pyongyang test-fired a missile but the launch ended up in failure as the projectile “blew up almost immediately,” according to the U.S. military. The launch came ahead of Vice President Mike Pence’s official visit to South Korea.

However, this is not the first test-firing of a missile by the Kim Jong Un-led country. In all, it has carried out three missile test-launches this year and several others in previous years. Here’s a timeline.

1984: Under Kim Il Sung’s rule, North Korea test-fired its first Scud-B missile.

1990: Pyongyang test-launched its first Rodong missile.

1994: The country’s founding leader Kim Il Sung died in July. Following the death, his son Kim Jong Il took over the control of the governance.

1998: The reclusive country fired a Taepodong-1 missile. However, the North said it was a satellite launch.

2003: Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and started gathering weapons-grade plutonium from spent fuel rods.

2005: The country announced that it has nuclear weapons.

2006: The North test-launched Taepodong-2, Rodong and Scud missiles in July that year. In October, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency announced a “successful nuclear test.”

2009: In April, North Korea fired a Taepodong-2 missile, but said it was a satellite launch. The following month, the country conducted a second nuclear test and in July that year, it test-fired Scud and Rodong missiles.

2011: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il died in December, allowing his son Kim Jong Un to assume power.

2012: The country test-fired Unha-3 rocket in April, but the launch was a reported failure. In December that year, Pyongyang successfully launched the Unha-3 rocket — the country’s first satellite into space.

2013: In February, North Korea carried out its third underground nuclear test.

2014: Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to South Korea in July, the North carried out missile tests.

2015: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in December that his country is “ready to detonate” a hydrogen bomb.

2016: The year witnessed a series of nuclear and missile tests from the isolated nation. In January, North Korea said it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. The impact of the test was so strong that it triggered a 5.1-magnitude artificial earthquake near Pyongyang’s main nuclear test site.

In February, the country launched the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite into orbit.

Following the satellite launch, the country fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile in August.

In September, Kim Jong Un’s regime fired three ballistic missiles with at least one of them reportedly entering Japan’s air defense zone. In the same month, it carried out a fifth nuclear test.

In October, North Korea fired a ballistic missile, which exploded immediately after the launch.

2017: In February, North Korea test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile into the East Sea. The missile launch was the country’s first since Donald Trump took office as the U.S. president in January.

In March, the reclusive nation fired four ballistic missiles as a part of, what it claimed, drills targeting U.S. military bases in Japan.

On April 16, North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile. However, the launch was reportedly a failure.