A History of Korea (119 page)
Read A History of Korea Online
Authors: Jinwung Kim
23 January 1968 | North Korean naval forces seize U.S.S. |
15 April 1969 | North Korea shoots down unarmed U.S. plane in East Sea |
17 October 1969 | Park Chung-hee’s proposal to abolish two-term limitations on presidency ratified by national referendum |
22 April 1970 | Park Chung-hee proposes New Village Movement |
9 February 1971 | South Korea announces Third Five-Year Economic Development Plan (1972-1976) |
27 April 1971 | Park Chung-hee wins third term in rigged presidential elections |
25 May 1971 | Opposition New Democratic Party wins enough seats in National Assembly elections to destroy ruling Democratic Republican Party’s two-thirds majority |
27 December 1971 | National Assembly grants Park Chung-hee emergency powers |
4 July 1972 | North and South Korea announce “Joint Statement of 4 July” embodying basic principles for reunification of Korea |
17 October 1972 | Park Chung-hee stages “Yushin coup d’état,” ending Third Republic |
21 November 1972 | Yushin Constitution ratified by national referendum |
23 December 1972 | Park Chung-hee elected president by National Conference for Unification |
25 December 1972 | North Korea promulgates new constitution creating state presidency |
27 February 1973 | National Assembly elections held, resulting in 146 locally elected seats (two-thirds) in the legislature |
8 August 1973 | Prominent opposition leader Kim Dae-jung kidnapped by Korean Central Intelligence Agency in Tokyo |
15 August 1974 | Korean resident of Japan attempts to assassinate Park Chung-hee, killing Park’s wife |
18 August 1976 | North Korean guards murder two U.S. Army officers in Joint Security Area of P’anmunj |
6 July 1978 | President Park Chung-hee wins another term of office as president |
12 December 1978 | In National Assembly elections, main opposition New Democratic Party wins more popular votes than ruling Democratic Republican Party, dealing a blow to Park regime |
16 October 1979 | Students and citizens in Pusan and Masan stage demonstration calling for an end to the Yushin system, which escalates into riots |
26 October 1979 | Park Chung-hee killed by the chief of Park’s own Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Chae-gyu |
12 December 1979 | Major General Chun Doo-hwan seizes control of South Korean armed forces in a bloody nighttime coup |
17 May 1980 | Chun Doo-hwan extends martial law to all of South Korea |
18 May 1980 | Students and citizens in Kwangju protest martial law in street demonstrations that escalate into armed revolt |
27 May 1980 | South Korean armed forces suppress Kwangju uprising |
27 August 1980 | Chun Doo-hwan elected president by National Conference for Unification |
10 October 1980 | Kim Jong-il publicly identified as Kim Il-sung’s designated successor at Sixth Korean Workers Party Congress |
22 October 1980 | New constitution for Fifth Republic of South Korea approved by national referendum |
25 March 1981 | Chun Doo-hwan’s Democratic Justice Party wins majority of seats in National Assembly elections |
1 September 1983 | Korean Air Liners Flight 007 shot down by Soviet SU-15 interceptor, killing all 269 persons aboard |
9 October 1983 | North Korean agents detonate bomb in superstructure of Aung San shrine in Rangoon, Burma, killing 17 South Korean senior officials |
12 February 1985 | In National Assembly elections, newly created hard-line opposition party, New Korea Democratic Party, captures 67 seats in the 276-member legislature, representing popular aspirations for democracy |
10 June 1987 | June Resistance begins |
29 June 1987 | In his eight-point democratization program, ruling party’s presidential candidate Roh Tae-woo agrees to direct presidential election |
27 October 1987 | New constitution for Sixth Republic approved by national referendum |
29 November 1987 | Bombing of South Korean airliner, conducted by North Korean agents during a flight over Andaman Sea, kills all 115 persons aboard |
16 December 1987 | Roh Tae-woo defeats two main opposition leaders, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, in presidential election |
26 April 1988 | Ruling Democratic Justice Party fails to obtain majority of seats in National Assembly elections |
17 September-2 October 1988 | South Korea hosts 24th Summer Olympiad in Seoul |
22 January 1990 | Roh Tae-woo’s Democratic Justice Party, Kim Young-sam’s Reunification Democratic Party, and Kim Jong-pil’s New Democratic Republican Party merge into Democratic Liberal Party |
1 October 1990 | South Korea and Soviet Union agree to normalize diplomatic relations |
26 March 1991 | Local elections held to elect representatives to metropolitan city, provincial, city, county, and district assemblies in South Korea |
31 December 1991 | North and South Korea adopt and initial “Basic Agreement on North-South Reconciliation, Nonaggression, Exchanges, and Cooperation” and the “Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” |
24 March 1992 | Ruling Democratic Liberal Party suffers crushing defeat in National Assembly elections |
24 August 1992 | South Korea and China normalize diplomatic relations |
18 December 1992 | Kim Young-sam wins presidential election |
12 March 1993 | North Korea announces intention to withdraw from Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, sparking an acute international crisis |
8 July 1994 | North Korean leader Kim Il-sung dies |
21 October 1994 | United States and North Korea sign Agreed Framework to freeze North Korea’s nuclear activity in return for economic and diplomatic benefits |
30 March 1995 | Kim Jong-pil establishes United Liberal Democrats, an opposition party |
27 June 1995 | Kim Young-sam’s ruling Democratic Liberal Party suffers severe defeat in local elections |
5 September 1995 | Kim Dae-jung forms new opposition party, National Congress for New Politics |
5 December 1995 | Kim Young-sam’s Democratic Liberal Party renamed New Korea Party |
11 April 1996 | Ruling New Korea Party fails to elect majority of seats in National Assembly elections |
26 August 1996 | Seoul District Court sentences former presidents Chun Doo-hwan to death and Roh Tae-woo to 22 and a half years in prison for military mutiny in 1979, treason in 1980, the Kwangju massacre, and corruption in office |
8 October 1997 | Kim Jong-il becomes General Secretary of Korean Workers Party in North Korea |
21 November 1997 | New Korea Party renamed Grand National Party |
3 December 1997 | South Korea receives $57 billion in bailout loans from International Monetary Fund |
18 December 1997 | Kim Dae-jung elected |
22 December 1997 | Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo pardoned under special amnesty |
31 August 1998 | North Korea test-fires three-stage rocket |
5 September 1998 | North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly elects Kim Jong-il chairman of National Defense Commission |
13 June 1999 | North Korean patrol boats cross Northern Limitation Line, resulting in naval confrontation between North and South Korean navies |
20 January 2000 | Kim Dae-jung forms another ruling party, New Millennium Democratic Party |
13 April 2000 | Kim Dae-jung’s New Millennium Democratic Party fails in its bid to become the number-one party in the legislature in National Assembly elections |
13-15 June 2000 | North-South summit held between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang |
13 June 2002 | Kim Dae-jung’s New Millennium Democratic Party suffers a heavy defeat in local elections |
29 June 2002 | North Korean patrol boat crosses Northern Limitation Line and opens fire on South Korean patrol boat, killing six South Korean sailors and wounding 19 others |
19 December 2002 | Roh Moo-hyun of the New Millennium Democratic Party elected president |
1 November 2003 | Roh Moo-hyun forms Our Open Party, another ruling party |
12 March 2004 | National Assembly impeaches Roh Moo-hyun for illegal electioneering and charges of general incompetence |
15 April 2004 | Roh Moo-hyun’s Our Open Party obtains slim majority of seats in National Assembly elections |
14 May 2004 | Constitutional Court reinstates Roh as president |
31 May 2006 | Opposition Grand National Party wins overwhelming victory in local elections |
4 July 2006 | North Korea conducts multiple missile tests |
9 October 2006 | North Korea announces successful completion of nuclear weapon test |
13 February 2007 | North Korea agrees to shut down main nuclear reactor and disable nuclear program in exchange for energy assistance and security guarantees |
23 February 2007 | South Korea and United States agree to complete transfer of full operational control to South Korea on 17 April 2012 |
2-4 October 2007 | Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il hold summit in Pyongyang |
19 December 2007 | Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party wins sweeping victory in presidential election |
11 February 2008 | New main opposition party, the United Democratic Party formed |
9 April 2008 | Ruling Grand National Party wins slim majority of seats in National Assembly elections |
2 May 2008 | In candlelight vigil attended by hundreds of teenagers, anti-U.S. beef demonstrations begin and quickly escalate |
10 October 2008 | United States removes North Korea from list of states sponsoring terrorism |
1 December 2008 | North Korea closes overland passage through Military Demarcation Line and Red Cross liaison office, as well as all direct telephone lines between the two Koreas; it also rejects nuclear sampling, leading to a sharp deterioration in inter-Korean relations and jeopardizing the six-party nuclear talks |
5 April 2009 | North Korea test-fires a long-range ballistic missile in the guise of a satellite launch, sparking widespread international criticism |
23 May 2009 | Former president Roh Moo-hyun commits suicide, plunging South Korean politics into deep uncertainty |
25 May 2009 | North Korea conducts its second nuclear test in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programs |
26 March 2010 | South Korean patrol ship |
23 April 2010 | North Korea confiscates real estate held by South Koreans at the K |
26 June 2010 | South Korea and the United States agree to postpone U.S. transfer of wartime operational control to South Korea until 1 December 2015 |
23 November 2010 | North Korea conducts artillery attack on South Korea’s island of Y |
17 December 2011 | North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies. |