Today in Korean history

Jan. 20

1919 -- Gojong, the 26th king of the Joseon Dynasty, dies.

1968 -- Thirty-one North Korean commandos infiltrate Seoul to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. The North Korean troops are stopped 300 meters from the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae. Twenty-eight are killed and one is captured, while two others are believed to have returned to the North across the border. The only survivor, Kim Sin-jo, shouted in a nationally televised news conference that "I came here to cut the throat of Park Chung-hee!"

1974 -- South Korea and West Germany sign a visa waiver accord.

2005 -- A South Korean maritime police boat crosses the inter-Korean border on the East Sea on a search-and-rescue mission after a South Korean cargo vessel sank in North Korean waters. Only four members of the sunken vessel's 18-strong crew survived.

2011 -- The Supreme Court acquits Cho Bong-am, the leader of Korea's first left-leaning "Jinbo (Progressive) Party," of an espionage charge 52 years after he was executed by the government of then-President Rhee Syng-man.
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