Key moments in inter-Korean relations

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on Friday pledged to work toward the "complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," and seek to declare an official end to the 1950s Korean War and establish a permanent peace agreement.

Here are key moments in their rivalry:

1945: The Korean Peninsula is liberated from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II but eventually divided between a Soviet-supported North and a US-backed South. The North invades the South in June 1950, starting a devastating war that is stopped three years later by an armistice.

1968: North Korean commandos infiltrate South Korea in a failed assassination attempt against South Korea's staunch anti-communist leader Park Chung-hee.

1974: Park's wife is killed in an assassination attempt targeting him during a speech in Seoul. The Korean-Japanese shooter claims he acted under orders from then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un.

1983: South Korean military strongman Chun Doo-hwan narrowly escapes a bombing in Myanmar that kills 21 people, including several cabinet ministers and presidential aides. South Korea and Myanmar accuse North Korea of orchestrating the attack, which Pyongyang denies.

1987: A South Korean passenger plane is bombed, killing 269 passengers and crew. South Korea says the North was behind the attack.

1991: South Korean President Roh Tae-woo seeks to improve relations with the North, and the Koreas, after rounds of dialogue, sign a non-aggression pact vowing trade, travel and cultural exchanges. The Koreas also join the United Nations at the same time.

1994: Kim Il-sung dies and is succeeded as leader by his son, Kim Jong-il, the father of Kim Jong-un. Months later, North Korea signs a major nuclear deal with the United States in which it agrees to freeze and dismantle its nuclear facilities in return for two alternative nuclear power reactors that could be used to provide electricity but not bomb fuel, and an annual 500,000 metric tons of fuel oil.

2000: South Korea's so-called "Sunshine" engagement policy leads to a summit between then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il.

2002: The "Agreed Framework" of 1994 collapses when US officials confront Pyongyang over a secret nuclear programme using enriched uranium.

2003: North Korea claims it has a nuclear device and will withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This brings Washington back to the negotiating table with the North, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia in August 2003.

2006: North Korea conducts its first nuclear test.

2007: The United States and the four other nations in the six-party talks reach a deal to provide North Korea with an aid package worth about $400 million in return for the North disabling its nuclear facilities and allowing international inspectors. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il meet in Pyongyang for the second inter-Korean summit. A joint statement vows mutual efforts to solve the "nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula."

2008: Conservative Lee Myung-bak is elected as South Korean president, ending a decade of liberal rule in Seoul.

2010: An explosion sinks a South Korean naval ship near the countries' western maritime border, killing 46 sailors. South Korea accuses Pyongyang of firing a torpedo and sinking the ship. Months later, North Korea fires artillery shells at a South Korean border island, killing four people.

2011: Kim Jong-un takes power following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.

2012: North Korea reaches a deal with the United States to suspend nuclear weapons and missile tests and uranium enrichment in exchange for food aid. The deal is killed weeks later when the North launches a long-range rocket. Conservative candidate Park Geun-hye wins the South Korean presidential race in December.

2013: Kim announces his country will pursue a national "byungjin" policy aimed at simultaneously seeking nuclear development and economic growth. This is seen as a clean break from the North's previous stand that mainly used the nuclear programme as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from foreign governments.

2015: South Korea blames the North over land-mine blasts that maim two South Korean soldiers. Tensions grow before the Koreas reach a deal in which the North offers vague regret over the blasts in exchange for the South stopping anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the border.

2016: South Korea, in reaction to a nuclear test by the North, shuts down an industrial park in North Korea that had been jointly operated by the countries.

2017: Moon takes office in May after winning a presidential by-election following Park's ouster over a corruption scandal. Moon initially vows to reach out to the North, but is forced to take a tougher stance as the North accelerates its nuclear weapons and missile tests.

2018: Inter-Korean dialogue is resumed after Kim in his New Year's speech proposes talks with the South to reduce tensions. North Korea sends hundreds of people to February's Winter Olympics in the South, including Kim's sister, who expresses her brother's desire to meet with Moon for a summit. South Korean officials later broker a mooted summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump. Kim and Moon meet at a border truce village between the Koreas.