Timeline: DPRK missile and nuclear tests

A DPRK missile that flew over Japan on Friday was just the latest in a long series of missile and nuclear tests conducted by Pyongyang. But the pace of launches has dramatically increased in the last two years.

**Here is a recap of the DPRK’s main missile and nuclear tests since 2006. **

Oct 9, 2006: First underground nuclear test.

April 5, 2009: Launch of a suspected Taopodong-2 rocket, with an estimated range of 6,700 km. It lands in the Pacific after flying over Japan.

May 25, 2009: Second underground nuclear test.

*December 2011: Kim Jong Il dies, Kim Jong Un becomes DPRK leader.

April 13, 2012: A long-range rocket launching a satellite disintegrates soon after take-off.

Dec 12, 2012: DPRK launches a multi-stage rocket, says it successfully placed a satellite in orbit.

Feb 12, 2013: Third underground nuclear test.

People watch a screen showing a graphic of a DPRK missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul on September 15, 2017. /AFP Photo

Jan 6, 2016: Fourth underground nuclear test. Pyongyang says it’s a hydrogen bomb.

Mar 9, 2016: Kim Jong Un says the DPRK has miniaturized a thermo-nuclear warhead.

Apr 23, 2016: DPRK test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

June 22, 2016: DPRK conducts two tests of an intermediate range Musudan missile. Four previous launches of the same kind had failed.

Aug 3, 2016: DPRK fires two ballistic missiles. One lands in Japan's maritime economic zone for the first time.

Aug 24, 2016: The DPRK fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which flies 500 km.

Sept 5, 2016: DPRK fires three ballistic missiles about 1,000 km, one enters Japan’s air defense zone.

Sept 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test.

Feb 12, 2017: DPRK fires an intermediate-range Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile, which flies 500 km.

March 6, 2017: DPRK fires four ballistic missiles. Three fall into Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

March 22, 2017: A DPRK missile appears to explode just after launch.

April 5, 2017: DPRK fires what the US says is a liquid-fueled, extended-range Scud missile into the sea.

May 14, 2017: Launch of a ballistic missile with an estimated range of 4,500 km, meaning it could reach Guam. It lands in the Sea of Japan.

July 4, 2017: DPRK test-fires what it says is a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Analysts say it could reach Alaska.

July 28, 2017: DPRK launches an ICBM with a theoretical range of 10,000 km, putting much of the USA in range.

Aug 26, 2017: DPRK fires three short-range ballistic missiles.

Aug 29, 2017: DPRK fires an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific.

Sept 3, 2017: Sixth nuclear test, the DPRK's most powerful yet.

Sept 15, 2017: DPRK fires an intermediate-range missile over Japan for the second time in a month.

(CGTN)