Language/Korean/Culture/South-Korea-Timeline
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Historical Timeline for South Korea - A chronology of key events
South Korea Timeline[edit | edit source]
Prehistory and Antiquity[edit | edit source] | |
500,000 BC AD | Presumed habitation of the peninsula by hominids. |
30,000 BC AD | Appearance of Paleolithic culture. |
6000-4000 BC | Pottery "comb", Neolithic culture. |
3000 BC AD | Period of the great Ural-Altaic migrations. |
2333 BC AD | Legendary foundation of the first Korean state by Dan-gun (Gojeoson). |
1500 BC AD | Beginning of the Bronze Age. |
700-600 BC AD | Change in the style of pottery; rice cultivation. |
300 BC AD | Beginning of the Iron Age and Scytho-Siberian bronze culture. |
194-180 BC AD | Wiman Joseon. |
108 BC J.-C | Defeat of Wiman Joseon, Chinese commandery. |
Three kingdoms[edit | edit source] | |
57 BC AD | Kingdom of Silla (capital: Gyeongju). |
37 BC AD | Kingdom of Goguryeo (capital: Pyongyang). |
18 BC AD | Kingdom of Baekje (capitals: Seoul, Gongju, then Buyeo). |
372-535 | Adoption of Buddhism by the three kingdoms. |
660 | Fall of Baekje. |
668 | Fall of Goguryeo and founding of Grand Silla. |
935 | Abdication of the last king of Silla. |
958 | Creation of the recruitment exam for gwageo civil servants. |
992 | Founding of the Gukjagam National Confucian Academy. |
1231 | Mongol invasion; the court is held in Ganghwado. |
1236-1251 | Second engraving of the Tripitaka. |
1372 | The world's first printed text with movable metallic type. |
1392 | Foundation of the Yi dynasty (Joseon kingdom) by Yi Seong-gye. |
1394 | Creation of Hanyang (Seoul) as capital and construction of the Gyeongbokgung palace. |
1398 | Founding of the Seonggyun-gwan National Confucian Academy in Seoul. |
1443 | Invention of the Korean alphabet (or Hangeul), made public in 1446. |
1592-1598 | Japanese invasion of Hideyoshi; Yi Sun-sin's turtle boat. |
1636 | Manchu invasions. |
1637 | Treaty with the Manchu Qing dynasty, then closure of the country. |
1627-1653 | Dutch castaways, the first direct accounts of Korea in the West. |
1785 | First Christian community in Seoul. |
1839 | Great persecutions against the Catholics. |
1860 | Foundation of the Donghak movement. |
1866 | Other persecutions; French incursion into Ganghwado. |
1876 | Treaty of Ganghwado with Japan opening Korea to foreigners. |
1882 | Treaty of commerce and friendship with the United States. |
1886 | Commercial treaty with France, right of evangelization granted to missionaries. |
1895 | Assassination of Queen Min by the Japanese. |
1896 | King Gojong takes refuge in the Russian legation. |
1905 | Protectorate treaty imposed by Japan following the Russo-Japanese war; unofficial occupation by Japan. |
Japanese occupation[edit | edit source] | |
August 29, 1910 | King Sunjong renounces his throne. |
March 21, 1919 | A Korean National Council, formed in Vladivostok on March 17, forms a provisional government. Another provisional government of the Republic of Korea was created in Shanghai on April 11; a third, ephemeral, was born in Seoul on April 21. Of these three governments, it is that of Shanghai that prevails and embodies national resistance. |
1921 | Creation of the Korean Language Study Society, which will contribute to cultural resistance to the Japanese occupation. |
1924 | Creation of the Seoul Imperial University. |
1925 | Creation in Seoul of a Korean Communist Party. |
1939 | Japanese authorities impose compulsory labor service on Koreans. |
1943 | Dissolution of the Society for the Study of the Korean Language. The use of the Korean language is prohibited in the streets and Koreans are forced to Japaneseize their family name. Mobilization of Koreans in the Japanese army. At the same time, tens of thousands of young Korean women are being torn from their families to serve as "comfort girls" to the Japanese military. |
Republic of Korea[edit | edit source] | |
August 6 and 9, 1945 | Nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 8, Stalin declared war on Japan and the Red Army entered Manchuria. Soviet forces occupy Pyongyang on August 12. |
September 8, 1945 | The Americans land in Korea. They agree with the Soviets to divide the country into two zones separated by the 38th parallel. |
November 23, 1945 | Kim Ku and the Provisional Government established in China return to Korea. At the same time, the Soviets favored the installation in their zone of occupation of a People's Committee of North Korea, headed by Kim Il-sung. |
July 20, 1949 | Syngman Rhee is elected first president and the Republic of South Korea is officially proclaimed on the following August 15. |
September 9, 1948 | The Republic of North Korea is proclaimed in the Soviet zone of occupation. |
June 25, 1950 | North Korean troops cross the 38th parallel. On the 27th, the United Nations Security Council voted for military assistance to South Korea. Seoul captured the same day. At the end of July, the South Korean troops only held the south-eastern part of the peninsula. |
September 15, 1950 | Landing of Incheon, organized by General Mac Arthur. |
September 28, 1950 | Capture of Seoul by United Nations forces, which crossed the 38th parallel on October 7 and invaded North Korea. |
October 19, 1950 | Capture of Pyongyang. On the 26th, American forces reached the southern shore of the Yalu. |
October 25, 1950 | The Fourth Chinese Army commanded by Lin Biao crosses the Yalu and the Chinese "volunteers" retake Pyongyang on December 4. Seoul fell again on January 4, 1951. |
January 15, 1951 | American counter-offensive led by General Ridgway. Seoul was resumed on March 14 and the front was stabilized along the 38th parallel. |
October 13, 1952 | Capture of the Piton de Crève-coeur by the French Korean battalion, under the orders of General Monclar. |
July 27, 1953 | Signature of the Panmunjom armistice. A demilitarized zone now separates North Korea from South Korea. |
April 25, 1960 | Protests prompt President Syngman Rhee to resign. End of the First Republic. |
May 16, 1961 | Military Putsch of General Park Chung-hee, who on May 19 becomes head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction. |
December 1962 | A new Constitution is adopted by referendum. Third Republic. |
October 1963 | Park Chung-hee is elected President of the Republic. He was re-elected in 1967 and 1972. South Korea began to take off economically. |
June 22, 1965 | Treaty for the normalization of relations with Japan. |
July 4, 1972 | The two Korean governments undertake to work for the peaceful reunification of the country. |
1976 | Korea's growth rate reaches 15.2%. |
December 12, 1979 | General Chun Doo-hwan seizes power. He was appointed President of the Republic on August 27, 1980. |
May 21, 1981 | Social discontent leads to an insurrection in the city of Kwangju. The repression kills hundreds. |
November 1, 1983 | Soviet air force shoots down a Korean Airlines Boeing 747 accused of violating Soviet airspace. |
May 6, 1986 | Violent student demonstrations in Seoul after one of their comrades set himself on fire to denounce President Chun Doo-hwan's regime. |
February 25, 1988 | Roh Tae-woo is elected president; entry into the Sixth Republic. |
September 1988 | Seoul Olympic Games. |
September 30, 1990 | South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with the USSR. |
December 13, 1991 | Signature of a non-aggression and reconciliation agreement between the two Koreas. |
1992 | South Korea establishes relations with the People's Republic of China. |
November 1992 | Treaty of friendship signed with Russia. |
1993-1998 | Presidency of Kim Youg-sam. |
1993 | Success of the Daejon International Exhibition. |
1993 | Chung Ju-yung, CEO of Hyundai, is convicted of embezzlement. |
July 8, 1994 | Death of the North Korean "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung. His son Kim Jong-il succeeds him. |
August 13, 1994 | KEDO agreements. Pyongyang agrees to freeze its nuclear program and the Yongbyon center will be subject to international surveillance. |
1996 | Korea is admitted to the OECD. |
1997 | Asian economic crisis. |
December 18, 1997 | Kim Dae-jung is elected President of the Republic. |
October 1998 | Japan apologizes to Korea for the abuses committed during the colonial period. |
June 1999 | Naval incident off the North Korean coast: the South Korean navy sinks several North Korean ships. |
August 1999 | Daewoo must abandon 19 of the group's 25 subsidiaries. |
June 13, 2000 | Meeting in Pyongyang between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il. |
August 16, 2000 | Reunion in Seoul between members of Korean families separated by the war. |
September 19, 2000 | Kim Dae-jung inaugurates the construction of a highway and a railway line to link Pyongyang to Seoul. |
September 24, 2000 | South Korea suggests installing a hotline to prevent any border incident between the two Koreas. |
October 13, 2000 | Kim Dae-jung receives the Nobel Peace Prize. |
March 12, 2004 | President Roh Moo-hyun is dismissed and replaced by Prime Minister Goh Kun, but his party's victory in the legislative elections leads to his reinstatement in office. |
June 12, 2004 | Signature of an agreement aimed at avoiding border incidents between the two Koreas. |
October 9, 2006 | North Korea announces that it has carried out a nuclear test. |
October 13, 2006 | Ban Ki-moon, former South Korean Foreign Minister, is elected UN Secretary General, succeeding Kofi Annan. |
February 13, 2007 | Agreement on the disarmament of Pyongyang during new six-party talks in Beijing. |
May 2007 | For the first time since the end of the war, two train convoys cross the demarcation zone between North and South. |
October 4, 2007 | Following South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's historic visit to North Korea, Seoul and Pyongyang sign a joint declaration expressing their wish to pacify the peninsula. |
February 2008 | The coming to power in South Korea of conservative President Lee Myung-bak puts an end to the conciliatory policy with Pyongyang. |
May 25, 2009 | North Korea performs another nuclear test. |
June 11, 2009 | Resumption of inter-Korean discussions on the Kaesong industrial park where around 100 South Korean companies employ 40,000 North Koreans. |
2010 | South Korea assumes the presidency of the G20, and Seoul hosts an international summit. |
January 27, 2010 | The two Koreas exchange artillery fire near the disputed area of their maritime border in the Yellow Sea. |
March 26, 2010 | An explosion causes the sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in the disputed maritime zone between the two Koreas. 46 sailors are killed. |
November 23, 2010 | North Korea fires shells at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea. The incident left 2 dead and 14 wounded among the South Korean armed forces, in addition to 2 civilian deaths, and triggered an armed response from Seoul. |
July 5, 2011 | The city of Pyeongchang is designated to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. |
December 17, 2011 | Death of the North Korean "Great Leader" Kim Jong-il. His son Kim Jong-un succeeds him. |
2012 | Yeosu hosts the 2012 Universal Exhibition. |
December 19, 2012 | Park Geun-hye is South Korea's first female president. |
February 12, 2013 | North Korea conducts a third nuclear test. |
July 3, 2013 | After a crisis lasting several months, communications between Seoul and Pyongyang have been restored. |
December 2014 | A Sony Pictures hacking case, on the sidelines of the release of the satirical film The interview, causes a new diplomatic crisis between Washington and Pyongyang. |
January 6, 2016 | North Korea conducts a fourth nuclear test. |
February 6, 2016 | North Korea fires a rocket to put a satellite into orbit (official version). Western forces suspect a disguised ballistic missile test, used to develop weapons capable of striking American territory. |
February 2016 | The communication channel between the two Koreas is closed by North Korea in protest against Seoul's closure of the Kaesong joint industrial complex (in retaliation for North Korea's latest nuclear and ballistic tests). |
March 10, 2017 | South Korean President Park Geun-hye is dismissed for being implicated in an influence peddling case. |
May 9, 2017 | Moon Jae-in, candidate of the Democratic Party (Minjoo), is elected President of the Republic of Korea. |
August 26, 2017 | New ballistic missile tests from North Korea. |
September 3, 2017 | North Korea's sixth nuclear test. |
January 3, 2018 | The emergency telephone line between the two Koreas, interrupted since 2016, has been reestablished. |
February - March 2018 | Pyeongchang, South Korea, hosts the Winter Olympics. North Korea is also participating in the festivities with a delegation of around 500 people. |
March 8, 2018 | Kim Jong-Un invites President Trump to a meeting by May 2018. |
April 2018 | The third Seoul-Pyongyang summit should be held at the end of April in Panmunjom located on the border between the two countries. |
Sources[edit | edit source]
World Timelines[edit source]
Videos[edit | edit source]
Seoul, South Korea: Exploring Korean Culture in Seoul - YouTube[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]