A timeline of Japan–North Korea relations.
| Year | Date | Event | | 1955 | Chongryon (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) is established. |
| 1970 | March 31 | Japan Airlines Flight 351 (Yodo) hijacking. 129 hostages taken by the Japanese Red Army. The hijackers surrender to North Korean authorities, who offer the whole group asylum. |
| 1977 | November 15 | Yokota Megumi, a Japanese junior high school student, kidnapped by Sin Gwang-su and forced to train spies in North Korea. |
| 1997 | October 9 | Japan contributes 27 million dollars to North Korea by way of World Food Programme. |
| 1998 | August | North Korea fires a medium-range Taepodong-1 missile over Japan. Japan suspended normalisations with Pyongyang. |
| 2006 | October 9 | 2006 North Korean nuclear test. |