South Korea Timeline

1953 Mar
to 1953 Jul
Battle of Pork Chop Hill
The Battle of Pork Chop Hill comprises a pair of related Korean War infantry battles during the spring and summer of 1953. These were fought while the U.S. and the Communist Chinese and K...
1953 May 28
to 1953 May 29
 Battle of the Hook
The third Battle of the Hook was a battle of the Korean War that took place between a United Nations force, consisting mostly of British troops, supported on their flanks by American and ...
1953 Jul 27 Korean Armistice Agreement
The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, with neither side able to claim outright victory. Fifty years on, the truce is still all that technically prevents North Korea and the US ...
1968 Jan 21 North Korean Commandos Cross DMZ in an Attempt to Assassinate South Korean President Park Chung Hee
On January 21, 1968, 31 North Korean commandos snuck into South Korea in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee. The teams, organized into groups of six, made their way throug...
1976 Aug 18 Axe Murder Incident at the Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Axe Murder Incident (Korean: 판문점 도끼 살인 사건) was the killing of two United States Army officers by North Korean soldiers on August 18, 1976 in the Joint Security Area (JSA) located in t...
1983 Oct 9 North Korean Operatives Detonate Bomb in Rangoon in Unsuccessful Attempt on Life of South Korean President, Chun Doo Hwan
Under Chun's leadership, Seoul cautiously promoted a peaceful dialogue with North Korea and encouraged the expansion of northsouth contacts in the early 1980s; P'yongyang remained uninter...
1987 Nov 29 Korean Air Flight 858 Explodes Mid-Air From North Korean Bomb
Korean Air Flight 858 was en route from Abu Dhabi to Bangkok on 29 November 1987 when it exploded over the Andaman Sea killing all 115 on board. Two North Korean agents had boarded the pl...
1988 Sep 17
to 1988 Oct 2
 Games of the XXIV Olympiad Held in Seoul, South Korea
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. It was the second summer Ol...
1994 Oct 21 Seongsu Bridge Collapse
Around 07:40 hours on October 21, 1994, Seongsu Bridge connecting Seongsu-dong and Apgujeong-dong of Gangnam-gu, Seoul, collapsed. The slab (48 m) between the fifth and the sixth leg of t...
1995 Apr 28 Taegu Gas Explosion
At about 7:30 a.m., during a busy rush hour, a large explosion rumbled beneath the streets, blasting the metal sheets high into the air. Flames shot out from underground, some 150 feet hi...
1995 Jun 29 Sampoong Department Store Collapse
By the mid-1990s, Sampoong had become one of the most fashionable and expensive department stores in the city. The Korean business and political elite (or rather, its female part) frequen...
1996 Sep 18 North Korean Submarine Lands Near Gangneung Sparking Deadly 49-Day Manhunt
The 1996 Gangneung submarine infiltration incident occurred on September 18, 1996, near the South Korean town of Gangneung. On September 15, a North Korean Sang-O class submarine subma...
1999 Jun 15 First Battle of Yeonpyeong
The First Battle of Yeonpyeong was a skirmish between naval units of North and South Korea. It did little to settle the dispute about control of the area and was an embarrassment to the N...
2000 Dec 10 Kim Dae-jung is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
There can be little doubt that to date Kim Dae-jung has been the prime mover behind the ongoing process of détente and reconciliation. Perhaps his role can best be compared with Willy Bra...
2002 Apr 15 Crash of Air China Flight 129
Eleven seconds after the call on the emergency frequency, the second officer reported to the Tower controller that they were on the circle approach. At 11:20:17 the captain took over cont...
2002 Jun 29 Second Battle of Yeonpyeong
On June 29, 2002 a North Korean patrol boat crossed the northern limit line and was warned to turn back. Shortly afterward a second patrol craft crossed the line and it too was warned to ...
2003 Feb 18 Daegu Subway Fire
The Daegu subway fire of February 18, 2003 killed at least 198 people and injured at least 147. An arsonist set fire to a train stopped at the Jungangno Station of the Daegu Metropolitan ...
2008 Feb 25 Roh Moo-Hyun Dies
Roh Moo-hyun (Korean pronunciation: [no mu hjʌn]) (6 August 1946 – 23 May 2009) was the 16th President of South Korea (2003–2008). Before entering politics, he was a human rights lawyer. ...
2009 Jun 15 President Obama Welcomes President Lee Myung-Bak in Washington
As North Korea threatens nuclear war, President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will be eager to show the North the unity of their alliance and a determination not t...
2009 Jun 23 South Korea Unveils 'Red Shark' Vertical-Launch Anti-Sub Missile
And as tension continues to escalate on the Korean peninsula, South Korea has unveiled its new guided missile system to beef up its naval defense. South Korea is the second country in ...
2009 Jul 8 North Korea Launches First Ever Cyber Attack Against US and South Korean Websites
North Korea is suspected of launching a cyber attack that paralysed the websites of South Korean and United States government agencies, banks and businesses, the first such large-scale at...
2009 Aug 25 South Korea Launches First Rocket Into Space
South Korea's space program suffered a blow Tuesday after a satellite launched from its first space rocket failed to reach proper orbit, a science official said. South Koreans at a railw...
2009 Oct 12 North Korea Test-Fires Five Short-Range Missiles.
North Korea has test-fired five short-range missiles off the east coast of the peninsula, South Korea's Yonhap news agency has reported. The North had declared a "no-sail zone" off its...
2009 Nov 18 President Obama Arrives in South Korea During East Asia Tour
President Barack Obama can expect the warmest reception of his swing through East Asia Thursday morning when he meets South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-bak – a welcome contra...
2010 Jan 11 North Korea Proposes Official End to Korean War
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s latest proposal on discussing a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula in the framework of the six-party talks is not welcome, a South Kor...
2010 Jan 20 South Korea's Foreign Minister Calls for Pre-emptive Strike Against North if Threatened
South Korea's defense chief called Wednesday for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea if there is a clear indication the country is preparing a nuclear attack. Meanwhile, a state-run th...
2010 Jan 27 North Korea Fires on South Korean Waters
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired artillery Wednesday again toward waters north of the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea, only hours after the first firing, ...
2010 Jan 28 North Korea Claims to have Detained American at Chinese Border
North Korea said Thursday it detained an American man who it said crossed its border with China earlier this week, becoming the second American in a month to allegedly enter the country i...
2010 Jan 29 North Korea Claims to Hold Second American Citizen
North Korea has detained a U.S. citizen this week, the second American known to be held by the isolated Communist country, the U.S. State Department confirmed today. The identity of th...
2010 Mar 26 South Korean Warship Sinks Near Border with North
About 40 sailors are believed missing after a South Korean warship sank near the border with North Korea, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said early Saturday local time, quoting unidenti...
2010 Apr 15 North Denies Involvement in Sinking as South Korean Warship Excavated from Seabed Near Disputed Yellow Sea Border
As tearful families looked on, the South Korean military recovered the bodies of 32 crewmen from the stern of a sunken warship that salvagers raised Thursday from the floor of the Yellow ...
2010 Apr 19 South Korean President Lee Myung-bak Vows Investigation into Sinking of Warship
An emotional President Lee Myung-bak vowed Monday to find out why a South Korean naval ship sank and to "deal resolutely" with whatever or whomever caused the sinking, the country's Yonha...
2010 Apr 22 Korean Newspaper Chosun Ilbo Reports Korean Navy Alerted of Possible North Korean Attack Weeks Before Mysterious Sinking of Warship
Military intelligence officers warned earlier this year that North Korea was preparing a suicide submarine attack on a South Korean vessel in retaliation for an earlier defeat in a sea ba...
2010 Apr 26 South Korean President Honors Victims of Sunken Warship
As the wreck of the Cheonan continues to be examined, and as forensic evidence continues to point to a North Korean torpedo as the cause of the sinking, one analyst says a military repris...
2010 Apr 27 North Korea's DailyNK Newspaper Reports that Party Official Bragging about North's Responsibility for Sinking South Korean Warship
Changchun, China -- A North Korean Party cadre has announced that his country was responsible for the sinking of an unnamed South Korean vessel presumed to be the Cheonan, a source from O...
2010 May 3 Kim Jong-il Makes Rare Visit Abroad in Appeal to China Amidst Rising Tensions At Home and Abroad
Kim Jong-il, North Korea's leader, has arrived in China on a rare foreign trip that is being seen as an attempt to win financial and political support from his impoverished nation's only ...
2010 May 5 Kim Jong-il Arrives in Beijing During Clandestine Visit to China
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, on his China trip that wrapped up Thursday, placed emphasis on economic cooperation, in addition to efforts to resume the six-party denuclearization talks...
2010 May 9 South Korean Defense Minister Gives Torpedo as Likeliest Cause of Ship Sinking
The Cheonan sinking's lead investigator said his team had concluded that ship was torn apart by a "non-contact" explosion from a device that didn't touch the vessel itself. A salvage crew...
2010 May 12 North Korea Claims Creation of Energy through Nuclear Fusion Prompting Widespread Skepticism
We don't mean to be xenophobic here, nor do we wish to diminish the work of North Korea's nuclear scientists, who have no doubt been hard at work. But a means of controlling a sustained n...
2010 May 17 South Korea Freezes Funding to North Following Warship Explosion
South Korea said Monday it had suspended funding for government-level exchanges with communist North Korea amid rising tensions over the sinking of a Seoul warship and other issues. Th...
2010 May 19 Laura Ling Discusses Capture by North Korea on "Larry King Live"
One of two American journalists freed last year from a North Korean prison said Wednesday that their release was thanks to an expression of condolences made by former President Bill Clint...
2010 May 20 International Investigation Concludes North Korean Responsibility for Warship Sinking
South Korea announced Thursday it found North Korea responsible for the sinking of its warship on March 26 and vowed punishment. Pyongyang responded by threatening war for any military re...
2010 May 21 Secretary of State Clinton Warns of Consequences for North Korea Following Sinking of South Korean Warship
"We cannot allow this attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community" —US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
2010 May 27 South Korean Navy Stages Anti-Submarine Exercise in Response to Sinking of Warship
The South Korean Navy on Thursday held a large-scale anti-submarine drill in the Yellow Sea amid rising tensions between South Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). A...
2010 Jun 4 Korean Conservative Ruling Party Suffers Election Defeat in Referendum on Response to Warship Sinking
Opposition candidates trounced the conservative ruling Grand National Party in local elections, throwing a spanner into the Lee Myung-bak administration’s flagship development projects an...
2010 Jun 8 Russia States Doubts About North Korean Guilt in Sinking of South Korean Warship After Conducting Probe
Russian experts who carried out a probe into the South Korean warship sinking refused to put the blame on North Korea, military sources said on Tuesday. A team of four submarine and to...
2010 Jun 16 North Korea Threatens UN With War
If rhetoric could kill, the Korean Peninsula would have been strewn with corpses Wednesday, felled by fresh verbal volleys from Pyongyang warning of nuclear war. As it was, South Korea...
2010 Jul 25 US and South Korea Begin Joint Navel Exercise
North Korea has threatened a "physical reponse" to upcoming joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, saying they pose a grave danger to security in the region. ...
2010 Jul 26 Second Day of US-South Korean Joint Naval Exercise
The South Korean and the United States military conducted joint naval manoeuvres off the Korean Peninsula for the second day Monday, reports said. Authorities from both sides say the e...
2010 Jul 27 57th Anniversary of the Korean Armistice Coincides with Joint US-South Korean Naval Exercise
A joint drill with U.S. forces off the east coast of South Korea on Tuesday featured naval cannons fired from ships and the dropping of depth charges. Warships fired weapons and droppe...