433: Baekje and Silla form an alliance against Goguryeo's aggression.[27]
475: Goguryeo attacks Baekje and captures Hanseong (modern day Seoul).[28] Baekje moves its capital south to Ungjin (modern-day Gongju) due to Goguryeo's pressure.
520: Silla formalizes the Bone-rank system, an aristocratic rank system that acted as a caste system under the reign of Beopheung of Silla.
527: Silla formally adopts Buddhism after Beopheung of Silla executes Ichadon, a Buddhist convert who had tried to persuade the king to adopt Buddhism.[31] Before he was executed, Ichadon predicted that milk colored blood would spill from his body after his death.[32] This supposed miracle allegedly occurred according to the Samguk yusa and convinced Silla's royal court to adopt Buddhism as its state religion.
538: Baekje moves its capital to Sabi (modern-day Buyeo).[28]
553: Silla attacks Baekje, breaking the alliance.[33]
662: As a result of the fall of Baekje, Tamna enters into a tributary relationship with Silla.
663: Battle of Baekgang, the remnants of Baekje allied with Japanese expeditionary forces are defeated by the Silla-Tang alliance, ending all hopes for the restoration of the kingdom.[41]
676: Silla repels Chinese forces from the Korean peninsula, completes unification of much of the Three Kingdoms following the Silla-Tang War and successfully defends its independence.[43][44][45]
936: Goryeo completes the reunification of the Later Three Kingdoms, absorbing the entirety of Hubaekje and parts of former Balhae territory.
938: Goryeo subjugates Tamna
956: Emperor Gwangjong forces major land and slavery reforms, and in 958 implements civil service examinations.
979: According to Goryeosa, tens of thousands of Balhae refugees from Jeongan flee to Goryeo, marking the largest Balhae migration since the 936 exodus.[49]
1033: Goryeo builds the second Cheolli Jangseong (lit. "Thousand Li Wall"), also known as the Goryeo Jangseong, a massive wall running along the northern border.
1135: Buddhist monk and geomancer Myocheong rebels in a failed attempt to move the capital to Pyongyang and pursue aggressive expansion against the Jin Dynasty
1234: Ch'oe Yun-ŭi's Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun is published, world's first metal-block printed text.
1251: Goryeo completes the Tripitaka Koreana, the most comprehensive and oldest intact version of the Buddhist canon in Chinese script
1268: Mongol peace treaty is signed which Mongols agree to protect them the best they can.
1270: Goryeo signs a peace treaty with the Mongols, beginning an 80-year period of Yuan overlordship. The Sambyeolcho Rebellion lasts for three more years.
1586: Local nobleman Yi Ŭngt'ae dies, leaving a pregnant widow and a child named Wŏn behind. His widow leaves a grief-stricken letter in his tomb that is later discovered in 1998 and becomes famous internationally.[62][63]
1593: The war causes the Kyegap Famine (계갑대기근;癸甲大飢饉) to begin. It lasts until 1594.[67]
1597: António Corea, a Korean slave kidnapped and taken to Japan, is sold to an Italian master. He is then taken to Italy at latest by 1600, and becomes possibly the first Korean to set foot in Europe.[68]
1653: Dutch mariner Hendrick Hamel becomes stranded on Jeju Island. The isolationist Joseon government prevents him from leaving, although he is given relative freedom to live normally on the peninsula.[71][72]
1666: Hamel and some of his crew escape Korea to Japan, then back to the Netherlands. Hamel then publishes the first eyewitness description of Korea by a Westerner.[71][72]
1885: 11 October. The first Methodist church in Korea, Chungdong First Methodist Church, is established. The church's main chapel, built in 1897, is now the oldest extant church in Korea, and the only extant one built in the 19th century.[89]
1886: 25th day, 1st month. The government newspaper Hansŏng jubo is established. It is the first newspaper written primarily in the Korean language (mixed script) and the first weekly newspaper in Korea.[90]
The first modern indoor theater in Korea, Hyŏmnyulsa, is established in Seoul.[101]
The Sontag Hotel, one of the earliest Western-style hotels in Korea, is established in Seoul.[102]
1903: The first Korean immigrants to the United States arrive in Hawaii.
1904
18 July. The Korea Daily News, predecessor to today's Seoul Shinmun, is founded by British journalist Ernest Bethell and becomes an important newspaper that can avoid Japanese censorship. It continues publication until increasing Japanese pressure causes it to be sold off in 1910. After which, it is renamed Maeil Sinbo.[103][104]
Philip Jaisohn becomes the first ethnic Korean to obtain a Western doctorate degree.[105]
Imun Seolnongtang, now the oldest continually operating restaurant in South Korea, opens around this time in Seoul.[106][107]
1905
3 June. The newspaper The Seoul Press is established. It eventually serves as the de facto official English-language publication of the government-general.[108]
8 May. Koreans arrive in Mexico for the first time, as contract laborers. Most intend to stay only until the end of their contract, but they are refused permission to return. They remain in Mexico, with some going to Cuba.[109]
1 September. The historic Japanese newspaper in Korea Keijō nippō is founded. The newspaper becomes the de facto official paper of the Japanese Residency-General and later Government-General.[112][113]
1907
Historic movie theater Dansungsa is founded in Seoul. It operates until it closes in 2010.[114]
The 105-Man Incident occurs, in which the Japanese arrest over 700 Koreans in connection to alleged assassination attempts on the Governor-General of Korea, Terauchi Masatake.[119]
The Korean enclave Sinhanch'on is established in Vladivostok in Russia. It becomes a hub of the Korean independence movement until it is dissolved in 1937.[120]
Kwŏnŏphoe, which became the de facto representative organization for Koreans in the Russian Empire, is founded in Sinhanch'on. They secretly operate the Korean Independence Army Government[ko] and build an army using Russian government funds, but are eventually dissolved in 1917 after Japanese pressure on Russia.[121]
21 January. Gojong suddenly dies. He was and is still widely believed to have been poisoned by Japan[ko].[123]
1 February.[124] The Muo Declaration of Independence[ko] is issued in Manchuria. It is the first such declaration of independence issued by Koreans, although its existence was then and remains relatively unknown.[125]
8 February. Inspired by the promotion of self-determination laid out in the Fourteen Points statement, Korean independence activists in Japan publish a February 8 Declaration of Independence. This directly inspires a similar act in Korea three weeks later.[126]
15 April. The Jeamni massacre occurs, during which Japanese soldiers lure Korean civilians into a church, kill them, and burn the building to destroy their bodies.[129]
27 October. The kino-drama, Righteous Revenge, widely considered the first Korean film, premieres at Dansungsa. This marks the anniversary of the modern Korean Film Day, although whether it is truly the first Korean film has been disputed.[131][132][133]
1920
As part of the cultural rule policy, permission is granted for several Korean-owned newspapers to be founded. The Chosun Ilbo is established on 5 March and The Dong-A Ilbo on 1 April.[96]
Kim Il Sung (then "Kim Song-ju") and his family flee to Manchuria.[134]
September. The controversial Hunchun incident. Japanese authorities claim Korean rebels attacked a Japanese consulate in Manchuria on this date, but debate continues as to what happened.[139]
October. The Gando Massacre occurs in Manchuria, where Japanese soldiers kill, rape, and steal from thousands of Korean civilians.[140]
November. The first time a Korean journalist is killed while reporting: The Dong-a Ilbo journalist Chang Tŏk-chun[ko] is killed by Japanese soldiers while investigating a Japanese massacre of Koreans in Hunchun, Manchuria.[141]
1921
The first golf course in Korea at what is now Hyochang Park. It was established by the Japanese, who left the graves of Korean royal family members directly on the course (fenced-off area in center of photo; photo published 1925)June. The first golf course in Korea is established at Hyochangwon by the Japanese colonial government. The tombs of Joseon royal family members are controversially left directly on the course.[142]
28 June. The Free City Incident occurs, where Soviet forces kill Korean militants who refuse to surrender to them.[143]
1922
The Chōsen Art Exhibition is held for the first time. After 1945, it was succeeded by the Republic of Korea Art Exhibition[ko].[144][145]
10 December. An Chang-nam becomes the first Korean to fly a plane in Korea.[146]
1923
1 March. The Koryo-saram newspaper Sŏnbong is established. It changed names to the Lenin Kichi in 1938 and Koryo Ilbo in 1991. As of 2023[update], it is the oldest active Korean-language newspaper outside of the Korean peninsula.[147]
1 September. In the immediate aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake in Japan, the Kantō Massacre occurs. Rumors emerge that ethnic Koreans had poisoned wells or were planning to attack the Japanese.[148] The Japanese military, police, and bands of armed vigilantes massacre thousands of Koreans, anyone they suspect of being Korean, and Japanese anarchists or left-wingers.[149][150] The Japanese government then begins a campaign to minimize or downplay the scale of the massacre.[148][151]
During this, Korean independence activists Kaneko Fumiko and Pak Yol are arrested and sentenced to life in prison.[152]
29 April. The Hongkou Park Incident occurs, in which Yun Bong-gil sets off a bomb in a park in Shanghai (now Lu Xun Park), killing several Japanese colonial and military leadership. In the aftermath, the KPG is forced to flee Shanghai.[162][163]
Japan begins the "comfort women" program, in which civilian women were coerced or forced into prostitution for the Japanese military. By the end of World War II, an estimated 100,000–200,000 Korean women would be forced into sexual slavery by Imperial Japan.[164]
1935: 3 November. Runner Sohn Kee-chung becomes the first Korean to win an Olympic gold medal, and sets a world record time.[165][166] He receives a sapling as a gift from German leader Adolf Hitler, which is now in Sohn Kee-chung Park in Seoul.[167] However, Sohn begrudgingly competed as an athlete of the Empire of Japan.[165]The Dong-A Ilbo removes the Japanese flag from his uniform in an image, which leads to retaliation from the colonial government.[167]
September. The deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union occurs, in which roughly 172,000 Koreans are forced to move from the Russian Far East to Central Asia. Conditions during the journey and at their destination are poor, and death toll ranges from 16,500[168] to 50,000.[169]
November/December. The KPG flees Nanjing just weeks before the Nanjing Massacre.[170]
The Governor-General of Korea enacts the Sōshi-kaimei policy, under which Koreans are pressured and incentivized to adopt Japanese-style names.
1939
The State General Mobilization Law is passed, and millions of Koreans are forcefully conscripted to work for Japan. Tens of thousands die due to poor work conditions.[171]
The KPG settles in Chongqing, where they would remain until the end of the war.[172]
1940
The Japanese colonial government enacts the One Province, One Company (1道1社; 1도 1사) policy, under which both Japanese and Korean newspapers are forced to consolidate or close.[96] The pro-Japanese Maeil Sinbo becomes the only major Korean-language newspaper left in Korea.[141]
17 September. The KPG establishes the Korean Liberation Army, a guerrilla army that was intended to eventually fight to liberate the Korean peninsula.[174]
Kim Il Sung and a few survivors escape from China into the USSR.[134]
27 November. The Cairo Declaration between China, the United States, and the United Kingdom announces the intention of the Allies to liberate Korea after World War II, but place it under a trusteeship. This both excites and angers Koreans.[176][93]
Koreans are moved to Utoro, Uji in Japan as laborers. The area becomes a Korean enclave that persists to the present.[177]
1944: Starting in 1944, Japan started the conscription of Koreans into the armed forces. All Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Japanese Army, as of April 1944, or work in the military industrial sector, as of September 1944.
1945 (before liberation)
8 February. At the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt secretly proposes to Joseph Stalin that Korea be placed under a three-way trusteeship, and Stalin mostly agrees.[176][178][179]
24 July. The Bumingwan bombing incident[ja] occurs at the building Bumingwan in Seoul.[182][183]
11 August. The General Order No. 1, drafted by the United States, specified the division of Korea at the 38th parallel. Stalin did not object to the terms.[176]
11 August. Soviet troops begin their first military operation in Korea, and land in Unggi County (later renamed Sonbong-guyok). Chŏng Sangjin is the only ethnic Korean among the Soviet troops there.[184]
13–17 August. The Seishin Operation is fought between the Soviet Union and Japan, with the Soviets winning.[184]
6 September. Before both trusteeships are well-established, Lyuh Woon-hyung establishes an independent People's Republic of Korea that incorporates both left- and right-leaning politicians. However, its activities are quickly suppressed and it never gains recognition from either the USSR or US.[187]
19 September. Kim Il Sung returns to the Korean peninsula with the Soviets.[188]
December. At the Moscow Conference, negotiations to reunify Korea fail. Instead, Korea is placed under a four-way trusteeship, by the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China for five years. This leads to protest and anger in the Korean peninsula.[93]
1946
4 January. Cho Man-sik, Kim's main rival for leadership in the North, is removed from office and placed under house arrest by the Soviets.[190]
8 February. The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea is established, and Kim Il Sung is made its chairman. While it supposedly represents all political groups in the North, it is dominated by the Soviet-backed Communist Party.[191]
December. A coalition is made in the North among all major political parties, including representatives of left-leaning parties in the South. This coalition is again dominated by the Communists.[194]
1947
Hyundai is established, initially as a construction company.
19 July. Lyuh Woon-hyung, whom some Americans had been eyeing as a more moderate alternative candidate for leadership in the South,[195] is assassinated by a member of the far-right terrorist group the White Shirts Society.[196]
April. Protests occur in Jeju that lead to the Jeju Uprising and are violently suppressed by 1949.[199][198] The estimated death toll is uncertain, but a significant portion (up to 30%) of the population is killed.[200] This event and its aftermath significantly threaten the Jeju language,[201] which as of 2023[update], is considered critically endangered.[202]
10 May. Despite significant controversy, elections for the National Assembly are held in South Korea, and Syngman Rhee becomes its chair.[198]
15 August. Establishment of South Korea with Syngman Rhee as president.[203]
9 September. Establishment of North Korea with Kim Il Sung as premier.[203]
20 November. The South Korean National Assembly passes the National Security Law. The law has been consistently criticized for its broad scope and historical use by South Korean dictatorships to quash political resistance.[200]
1949: 26 June. Kim Ku is murdered in his home by Ahn Doo-hee. The exact motives behind the murder still remain unclear.[204]
1950 (before Korean War)
30 January.[205] After months of negotiations, Stalin finally relents to Kim's requests to launch an invasion of the South, but makes it conditional on whether Kim can convince Mao to support the effort.[206][207]
April. Mao agrees to support Kim in the invasion.[206][207]
25 June. The Korean War begins with a surprise attack from the North. While minor border skirmishes had happened prior to the war, they are not comparable in scale of the invasion the North launches. The First Battle of Seoul begins with the deaths of hundreds of civilians; Seoul falls within a few days.[208]
7 July. The UN Security Council creates the United Nations Command under the United States to support the South. Over the following years, tens of thousands of soldiers from a number of countries fight for the South.[209]
26 to 29 July. The No Gun Ri massacre occurs. Unarmed South Korean civilians near the village of Nogeun-ri are deliberately killed by the US Army; the death toll and cause of the massacre is disputed.[210]
August. UN forces are driven back to the south-east corner of the Korean Peninsula ("The Pusan Perimeter").[211]
September. The Battle of Inchon occurs after UN Troops make a surprise amphibious landing on the west coast. Despite the death toll, the UN resolution's original goal of returning to the status quo borders, and the concerns of the US's allies that China or the USSR could enter the war, MacArthur and Rhee decide to push North and reunify the peninsula. The UN approves this on 7 October, and troops move North on 9 October. This prompts the Chinese to begin planning a counteroffensive.[212]
December. The National Defense Corps incident begins and lasts until February 1951. The Rhee government drafts hundreds of thousands of civilians into a militia, but fail to provide them adequate supplies. Tens of thousands die or disappear.[213][214]
31 January the UNSC votes unanimously to cease interest in the conflict, per UNSC Resolution 90.
15 March. Seoul is retaken by the ROK and UN Forces.[213]
July. Armistice talks begin. While the establishment of a demilitarized zone and the creation of an armistice commission are agreed on, the talks stall on the issue of prisoner exchanges. Over the following two years of more stalled talks, the US and UN Forces drop more bombs on North Korea than the Allies did on Germany and Japan in World War II. Both the North and the South commit atrocities against their own citizens and civilians on the other side. Over a million and up to two million Koreans die.[215]
1953
January. The South Korean newsreel Korean News is established. It serves as an arm of the South Korean government until it closes in 1994.[216]
27 July. The Korean War is halted by the Korean Armistice Agreement that has remained in force until now.
1954: December 10 and 26. The Busan Yongdusan fires destroy numerous shanty buildings and more than 3,400 historic relics that had been moved to Busan for safekeeping, including historic portraits of Joseon kings.[217][218]
April. Chongryon assists in establishing the North Korean-aligned Korea University in Tokyo.
September. The August Faction Incident occurs, in which pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese North Koreans attempt to purge Kim Il Sung. Kim then conducts a counter-purge.
12 October. The Sino-Korean Border Agreement is signed, beginning the process of establishing the modern border between China and North Korea. The process finishes with the agreement's 1964 companion, the Protocols on the Sino–Korean Border.[221]
January. The Blue House raid, an unsuccessful attempt of North Korean commandos to assassinate South Korean president Park Chung Hee occurs.
April. In retaliation for the Blue House raid, a South Korean group is created (Unit 684) to assassinate Kim Il Sung, but the group eventually mutinies on 23 August.
12 October. Discontinuation of rice imports, the accomplishment of total self-sufficiency in rice by the 'Unification Rice'.
1977
Start of the fourth five-year plan
22 December. Celebration of achievement of 10 billion dollars gained by exports.
1978: 26 October. Detection of the 3rd tunnel. Made by North Korea to attack South Korea.
1978: 10 December. Achievement of 1,117 US dollars as GNP.
1979
American president Jimmy Carter visits Korea. Threatens Park by stating he would reduce the US forces in Korea if he does not stop the ongoing Nuclear Weapons Development project.
1980: Gwangju Uprising. Martial law is declared throughout the nation. The city of Gwangju becomes a battleground between dissenters and the Armed Forces (18–27 May). The official death toll was set at 200 people but some reports claim over 1000 casualties.
1985: A South Korean expedition team becomes the first Koreans to set foot in Antarctica.[223][224]
17 February. The King Sejong Station becomes the first South Korean research station in Antarctica.[225]
17 September – 2 October. The 24th Olympic Games are held in Seoul. This event has since become viewed as a watershed moment that showcased South Korea's rapid economic development to the world.[226]
1990: 11 September. South Korea and the USSR establish diplomatic relations.
1991
17 September. North Korea (DPRK) and South Korea (ROK) join the United Nations (UN).
26 December. The end of the Cold War as the Soviet Union collapses and North Korea loses military and economic aid.
1992
11 August. South Korea's first satellite, KITSAT-1, a.k.a. 우리별 (Uri Byol) is successfully launched from Guiana Space Centre.
Taepodong-1, a two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile is developed and tested by the DPRK. End of the Arduous March. It is possible that up to 3.5 million people did not survive the 'march'.
The Shimonoseki Trial, the first ever lawsuit against the Japanese government by comfort women or forced laborers by Koreans, ends with the denial of compensation for the three women.[231][232]
1999: The DPRK promises to freeze long-range missile tests.
2002
14 January – 19 March. TV series Winter Sonata achieves significant international viewership in the Philippines and Japan, bolstering the growing Korean Wave.[233]
2007: The second summit between DPRK and ROK leaders is held, with Roh Moo-hyun representing the south and Kim Jong Il the north. The DPRK fires short-range missile into the Sea of Japan.
2008: 8 April. A Korean woman, Yi So-yeon, becomes the first Korean to fly to outer space.[236]
2009
North Korea launches a rocket (Unha), supposedly for space exploration.
2010: North Korea launches missile and attacks Korean Pohang-classcorvette, ROKS Cheonan. 46 Korean soldiers die because of the attack. At November, North Korean army rains artillery fire on Yeon-Pyeong-Do island.
2011: Kim Jong Il dies, Kim Jong Un takes over as the Supreme Leader of North Korea. The National Intelligence Service accuses pro-unification lawmakers of being spies. One of the members was a former Democratic Party representative. In a move indicative of the heavy-handedness of the Park regime, the party is outlawed and key party members are imprisoned.
2012
13 April. The Kim Regime of the DPRK tested a rocket, officially called "Unha-3", an expendable launch system developed from the Soviet Scud rockets. The rocket was to send a satellite, called "Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3", into orbit. The rocket failed to launch the satellite and fell into the Yellow Sea. The mission ultimately ended in complete failure.
2016: 9 December. The impeachment vote of President Park Geun-hye took place, whilst 234 members in the 300-member National Assembly voting in favor of the impeachment and temporary suspension of her presidential powers and duties. Hwang Kyo-ahn, then prime minister, became acting president while the Constitutional Court of Korea was due to determine whether to accept the impeachment.
2017
10 March. The court upheld the impeachment in a unanimous 8–0 decision, removing Park from office.
10 May. Moon Jae-In is sworn into office immediately after official votes were counted on 10 May, replacing Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn.[240]
2019: 21 May. The South Korean film Parasite premieres at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, and becomes the first Korean film to win the top prize.[241] At the 2020 Academy Awards, it becomes the first Korean film to receive any recognition from the academy, and the first non–English language film to win Best Picture.[242]
2021: 17 September. Premiere of the TV series Squid Game, which becomes an international sensation with hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.[243]
2022
10 May. Yoon Suk Yeol is sworn into office, succeeding former President Moon Jae-in.
5 July. American mathematician of Korean descent June Huh is awarded the Fields Medal, which is considered the most prestigious award in mathematics. He is the first ethnic Korean to receive the award.[244]
29 October. Seoul Halloween crowd crush, 159 people are killed and another 197 injured in the deadliest accident since the sinking of the Sewol.[245]
15 January. Yoon Suk Yeol is arrested after multiple previous failed attempts and an hours-long standoff at his residence. He is South Korea's first sitting president to be arrested.[253]
Korea 108 BC
The Four Commanderies of Han, 107 BC
Korea in 1 AD
Korea 204 AD
Korea in 300 AD
Korea in 315 AD
Korea in 375 AD
Korea in 410 AD
Korea in 476 AD
Korea in 576 AD
Goguryeo–Sui War in 598 AD
Goguryeo–Sui War in 612 AD
Goguryeo–Tang War (645–668)
Silla–Tang War (672–676)
Little Goguryeo (699–820)
Unified Silla and Balhae in the 8th century AD
Balhae in 800 AD
Balhae in 830 AD
Korea in 915 AD
Liao dynasty (907–1125)
Second conflict in the Goryeo–Khitan War (1010 AD)
Third conflict in the Goryeo–Khitan War (1018 AD)
1232 Mongol invasion of Goryeo
1235 Mongol invasion of Goryeo
1253 Mongol invasion of Goryeo
Goryeo in 1374
Joseon (15th century)
Later Jin invasion of Joseon in 1627
Qing invasion of Joseon (1636–1637)
First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895)
Empire of Japan (1868–1947)
Korean War May 1950
Korean War September 1950
Korean War November 1950
Korean War January 1951
Korean War July 1953
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