Today in Korean history

April 22

1884 -- The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) opens its first post office in Seoul.

1906 -- The country's first bicycle race is held in Seoul.

1961 -- South Korea and Japan sign a treaty on trade and commerce.

1970 -- President Park Chung-hee launches the Saemaeul (new community) Movement aimed at restructuring the nation's economy. The nationwide campaign helped South Korea rebuild its economy from the ruins of the 1950-53 Korean War.

2001 -- American Paul Muenzen is appointed the head priest of Hyeonjeongsa, a Buddhist temple in North Gyeongsang Province. Muenzen, a former Catholic who became a Buddhist monk in 1987, became the first foreigner to head a Korean Buddhist temple.

2007 -- South and North Korea hold their 13th round of economic cooperation talks and agree to conduct test runs of cross-border railways in Kaesong, a North Korean town just north of the inter-Korean border, in May and make efforts to ensure a military guarantee for their safe operations.

2011 -- Samsung Electronics Co. files lawsuits against Apple Inc. in South Korea, Japan and Germany, accusing the U.S.-based company of violating its patents in producing the iPhone and the iPad. The move came after Samsung vowed to respond firmly to Apple's allegation that Samsung's Android-based mobile devices copied trademarks, trade dress and other patents of the iPhone and iPad.

2015 -- South Korea signs a deal with the United States for the start of full-fledged research into a new technique for spent nuclear fuel recycling.
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