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Today in Korean history

All News 14:00 September 20, 2021

Sept. 21

668 -- The Goguryeo Kingdom, which was established in 37 B.C., is conquered by troops from a coalition of Korea's Silla Kingdom and China's Tang Dynasty. Considered the forerunner of modern-day Korea, the Goguryeo Kingdom stretched from areas of what is now North Korea to Manchuria in northeast China. Royal tombs, murals, castles and monuments from the Goguryeo period were designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites in July 2004.

1953 -- No Kum-sok, a senior lieutenant in North Korea's air force, defects to South Korea in a MiG-15 aircraft. He flew the aircraft from the Sunan airfield outside Pyongyang and crossed the inter-Korean border to arrive at a South Korean air base near Seoul. He was subsequently granted political asylum in the United States the following year.

1996 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency adopts a resolution urging North Korea to preserve all information relevant to verifying the North's initial report on the inventory of its nuclear materials. In its general meeting in Vienna, the international watchdog expressed concern over Pyongyang's continuing noncompliance with the safeguards agreement.

1998 -- Then U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is named the winner of the Seoul Peace Prize for his contribution to world peace and humanitarian efforts. The annual prize of US$200,000 is given for contributions to peace by politicians, academics, civic activists and international organizations in commemoration of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

2001 -- General Motors Corp. (GM) signs a memorandum of understanding to take over ailing Korean carmaker Daewoo Motor Co. In the agreement with Daewoo's chief creditor, Korea Development Bank, the U.S. auto giant arranged to pay the equivalent of $1.2 billion in preferred shares to take over Daewoo Motor's assets. Creditors were given permission to sell the preferred stock they would receive from the GM buyout after 10 years.

2004 -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Russian President Vladimir Putin announce a comprehensive partnership between the two nations at a summit held at the Kremlin. They agreed to cooperate regarding the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the fight against international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the development of oil and natural gas wells in Siberia, linkage of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Trans-Korean Railway, and the transfer of Russian space technology to South Korea.

2013 -- North Korea abruptly postpones the planned reunion of families four days before the event, citing what it called Seoul's confrontational policy. The two Koreas were to hold the reunion at the North's mountain resort of Kumgang from Sept. 25-30. It was to have been the first event of its kind in more than three years.

2017 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in calls on the United Nations to play a greater role in peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear issue, calling it the most urgent challenge facing the world body, during his first address to the U.N. General Assembly.
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