SEOUL — Today marks several significant events in Korean history, ranging from imperial power struggles to modern diplomatic incidents.
According to Yonhap News Agency, In 1910, Japan began its aggressive disenfranchisement of the Joseon Dynasty's authority, initially seizing control of its police powers before completely annexing Korea later that year. Moving forward to 2001, tensions flared as a North Korean fishing boat crossed the Northern Limit Line, a de facto maritime border with South Korea, shortly after a South Korean vessel was penalized for a similar breach the previous month.
The year 2002 witnessed the arrival of 26 North Korean asylum seekers to South Korea, following their refuge in South Korean embassies in Beijing and Canada. In a significant legal turnaround in 2008, the Seoul appeals court acquitted Lone Star Funds of stock manipulation charges, enabling the U.S. equity fund to finalize its sale of the Korea Exchange Bank to a British entity. This case was part of a broader investigation into the fund's controversial acquisition of the bank in 2003, which included allegations of governmental collusion to understate the bank's financial woes to facilitate its sale at a reduced price.
Further, in 2013, amidst political controversy, the National Intelligence Service released a transcript from the 2007 inter-Korean summit, where then South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun reportedly discussed transforming the contentious Yellow Sea border into a "peace-economy zone."
Most recently, in 2020, the remains of 147 South Korean service members, who died in North Korea during the Korean War (1950-53), were repatriated from Hawaii, marking a poignant moment of remembrance and closure for the nation.