Today in Korean history

Nov. 26

1986 -- The South Korean government announces plans to build a "Peace Dam" on the upper stretches of the Han River that flows through Seoul to counter a possible North Korean "flood" offensive. The move was prompted by reports that North Korea planned to build a "Mount Kumgang" dam upstream, north of the border. The then military-backed government claimed that the North's dam was intended as a weapon to flood the densely populated capital and its surrounding areas. The South Korean dam, completed several years later, was left empty in order to contain floods that might be released by the North.

1995 -- The government of President Kim Young-sam reopens an investigation into the so-called Dec. 12 incident, in which Chun Doo-hwan, then an Army general, staged an internal coup and seized power in 1979. It also decided to reinvestigate the May 18 civil uprising, in which citizens in the southern city of Gwangju rose up against Chun's government in 1980. The uprising was put down by force, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

2004 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board decides not to refer South Korea to the U.N. Security Council over its undeclared experiments with nuclear material but adopts a "chairman's statement" to express concern over Seoul's failure to report them. South Korea acknowledged in September that its scientists secretly extracted and enriched plutonium and uranium, two key ingredients for nuclear weapons, in 1982 and 2000.

2015 -- Former President Kim Young-sam is laid to rest at Seoul National Cemetery in Seoul after a state funeral.

2018 -- South and North Korea jointly list traditional wrestling, "ssireum," as a UNESCO heritage.
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