Today in Korean history

Sept. 19

1980 -- South Korea and France sign a fishery accord.

2000 -- The South Korean women's archery team wins the gold medal in the group competition at the Sydney Olympics. The South Korean troika -- Kim Soo-nyung, Yoon Mi-jin and Kim Nam-soon -- beat the Ukrainian team 251-239. In addition, Yoon Mi-jin collected her second gold medal at the Olympics after winning the women's individual competition. Her teammates -- Kim Nam-soon and Kim Soo-nyung -- took silver and bronze in the individual competition.

2005 -- During the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the communist state agrees to drop its nuclear program and return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and allow monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The five other countries, including South Korea, China and Japan, agreed to provide energy and a security guarantee to the North, and promote trade and economic exchanges. The United States and Japan, especially, agreed to normalize relations with the North.

The participating countries also agreed to discuss the provision of a light-water reactor at an appropriate time.

2013 -- North Korea's key newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, reports the country has completed a new brewery in Haeju, a port city located on its southwestern coast.

2016 -- A magnitude 4.5 earthquake strikes close to Gyeongju in southeastern South Korea, a week after two other strong earthquakes jolted the same city. The quake was an aftershock of the earthquakes that occurred on Sept. 12, which registered magnitudes of 5.8 and 5.1, respectively. The former was the strongest temblor detected in or near the Korean Peninsula since 1978.

2018 -- South Korea and North Korea sign an agreement to reduce military tension between the divided Koreas that included creating land, air and maritime buffer zones near the inter-Korean border. The de facto nonaggression agreement was signed on the sidelines of the third inter-Korean summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held in Pyongyang between Sept. 18-20.
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