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Korean History on a Page In series
Revisit significant past events and issues through The Korea Herald
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Korean History on a Page In series
Revisit significant past events and issues through The Korea Herald
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In 1994, news from Pyongyang shocks the world
In the morning of July 9, 1994, North Korea’s state media outlets announced that there would be a “special broadcast” at noon. Few in South Korea had a clue what to expect. Then, when noon came, the news struck South Koreans like a lightning bolt. "We, with much bitterness, inform the people in this country that our great leader died of a sudden disease,” a grim-looking announcer on North Korean TV said, solemnly conveying the passing of the man who founded North Kor
Aug. 2, 2023 - 11:16:26
Old ups and many recent downs in Korea-China ties
Normalization of diplomacy in 1992 paves way for a roller-coaster relationship between two neighbors In 1992, South Korea and China embarked on a new chapter in their millennia-old relationship. The East Asian neighbors with deep historical and cultural connections were enemies during the 1950-53 Ko
July 19, 2023 - 11:41:14
A tale of two Koreas at the UN
The United Nations holds a special position in South Korea’s modern history. From the nation-building process following the liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese occupation to the 1950-53 Korean War and postwar recovery and reconstruction efforts, the global governance body played a crucial role by providing South Korea with military and humanitarian assistance. Yet, it wasn't until 1991 when South Korea officially became a member. Joining alongside North Korea, it was the 161st to join the
July 12, 2023 - 11:17:02
How KAL007 tragedy gave civilians access to GPS
On early Sept. 1, 1983, a Soviet interceptor shot down Korean Air Flight 007 en route from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage. All 269 passengers on board were killed as the aircraft crashed into the sea near an island west of Sakhalin, Russia. The Soviets had mistaken the Boeing 747 airliner for a US spy plane as it drifted off course and flew through prohibited Soviet air space. It was one of the deadliest events of the late Cold War. The Soviet Union initially issued a short statement say
July 6, 2023 - 10:25:30
Hwaseong murders: Korea’s most infamous cold case solved after 33 years
In 1986, a tiny rural town near the city of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, was rocked by a series of rapes and murders targeting its female residents. A total of 10 women were killed over the course of five years, while the authorities failed to identify the perpetrator, limited by the technology of the time and a series of mistakes that occurred during the investigation. For over three decades, the Hwaseong serial murders remained one of the most famous unsolved cases in South Korea, capturing pu
July 5, 2023 - 17:58:16
1989: The year Koreans started traveling abroad
A passport was once something reserved for a privileged few in South Korea until the government began allowing all citizens to travel freely overseas on Jan. 1, 1989. To prevent an outflow of foreign currency that would weaken the Korean currency against the dollar, as well as to minimize Koreans’ contact with communists, international travel was only permitted for certain groups of people who had special reasons for it. These included company officials or businesspeople who need to
June 21, 2023 - 14:37:52
NK secret agent behind 1987 KAL bombing now lives ordinary life in South
On Nov. 29, 1987, Korean Air Flight 858, en route from Baghdad to Seoul, exploded mid-air as a bomb planted by two North Korean agents inside an overhead storage bin detonated. All of the 115 people on board, including 104 passengers and 11 crew members, were killed. One hundred and thirteen of them were South Koreans, many of whom were construction workers returning home after years of working in the Middle East. The two other passengers were from India and Lebanon. The explosion took place ab
June 7, 2023 - 16:00:31
Korea’s own Jonestown Massacre lesson on dangers of cults
From the infamous Jonestown Massacre in Guyana in 1978 to the more recent case of the "starvation cult" in Kenya this April, the world has witnessed a disturbing string of mass deaths associated with religious cults. In the summer of 1987, South Korea, too, had its own harrowing experience. On Aug. 29, a chilling discovery was made in the attic of a factory in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. It was a bizarre scene: Bodies were stacked upon one another, their feet bound and nostrils stuffed
May 31, 2023 - 13:07:33
June 1987: Democracy takes root, at least in the Constitution
After weeks of massive protests, the South Korean public finally got what it demanded. In late June of 1987, the junta hoisted a white flag and proposed a constitutional reform for direct presidential elections. “Roh proposes direct election of next president under new Constitution,” reads the front-page story of The Korea Herald's June 30, 1987, edition, signaling the dawn of a new era for a nation that had been under dictatorship for decades. Roh in the headline is the late fo
May 24, 2023 - 14:04:41
Operation Vienna: Filmmakers’ perilous escape from clutches of North Korea
Actor Choi Eun-hee and filmmaker Shin Sang-ok gave new meaning to the word “dramatic” when they made a daring escape to the US Embassy in Vienna on March 13, 1986. The couple's story is more extraordinary than any of the films they made, blending genres of romance, spy thriller and political documentary. “Choi Eun-hee, Shin Sang-ok flee to West after 8 years of NK shackles” reads the front page of The Korea Herald in its March 19, 1986 edition, telling the story of t
May 17, 2023 - 22:13:17
Revisiting the 1983 Rangoon Bombing
The mid-80s were a harrowing time for South Koreans, marked by traumatic events that shook the entire nation. The shock of the Korean Air Flight 007's shot down by a Soviet missile on Sept. 1, 1983, which killed all of its passengers and crew, was compounded by another horror, just a month later, at the hands of communist forces in the northern part of the peninsula. On Oct. 9, in Myanmar’s capital of Yangon, a bomb went off, killing key members of South Korea’s economic team le
May 10, 2023 - 14:29:37
Families separated by war reunite on live TV
"History through The Korea Herald” revisits significant events and issues over seven decades through articles, photos and editorial pieces published in the Herald and retells them from a contemporary perspective. – Ed. In the summer of 1983, Seoul’s Yeouido Park and the nearby area surrounding a TV station building turned into a sea of people, each clutching signboards covered with the details of someone they were searching for. Thousands had gone there to post a poster fo
April 26, 2023 - 15:16:16
Lifting of curfew in 1982 signals exit from era of repression in daily life
Every night at 10 p.m., over soft music, a female voice actor on the radio would tell teenagers to go home as it had gotten late. After 11 p.m., people would rush to take the last buses and taxis. All stores and bars would close before 11:30 p.m. At the stroke of midnight, sirens would blare and steel barricades would be placed on the streets. Neighborhood patrollers would blow their whistles at anyone still out on the street and those spotted would do their best to run away. This was South Kore
April 12, 2023 - 17:53:24
That May when truth was muzzled
“Dialogue under way at riot-torn Kwangju,” reads the top headline on the front page of The Korea Herald’s May 23, 1980 edition. It says the “bloody riot that has gripped this provincial capital city” was on the verge of control, with representatives of the demonstrators beginning talks with government authorities. According to the article, authorities accepted several demands by the “rioters who have taken over the city of 800,000,” and the student leade
April 5, 2023 - 17:51:41
From $10b to $680b: S. Korea’s glory road to export-driven prosperity
In 1977, a little over two decades after the war that hardened the division of the peninsula ended, South Korea celebrated an economic milestone with much fanfare: $10 billion in yearly export volume. It had been just a year since the country had stopped receiving US aid worth a colossal $12.6 billion from 1946 through 1976, which helped rebuild most modern infrastructure there had been before the war. “Our achievement of $10 billion in exports has a bigger meaning than just its size in
March 29, 2023 - 16:26:43
