Today in Korean history

March 5

1920 -- The Chosun Ilbo begins publication. The newspaper later becomes one of the most popular dailies in South Korea.

1946 -- Socialist authorities governing the northern part of Korea announce a land reform law. The leadership, established one month earlier and tentatively named the "North Joseon Preliminary People's Commission," applies socialist measures of reform after the country was liberated from Japan's colonial rule the previous year. The measures include gender equality laws and the nationalization of private property.

2004 -- South and North Korea agree to allow South Korean firms to establish full operations in an industrial park that began construction in the North Korean border town of Kaesong the previous year.

The two sides also agree to conduct train test runs on newly completed railway sections along the western and eastern parts of their border. The accord is one of seven points in a joint press statement released at the end of four days of talks in Seoul. The Kaesong complex is one of the most visible products of the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, which set bilateral rapprochement in motion.

2007 -- The funeral of Army Sgt. Yoon Jang-ho, a South Korean soldier killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan, is held at a military hospital in Seongnam, south of Seoul. Yoon, 27, was one of the victims of a suicide bombing at the main gate of a U.S. base in Bagram, about 60 kilometers north of the Afghan capital of Kabul. The U.S. government posthumously awards Yoon the Bronze Star, a medal for meritorious service or bravery by soldiers in the U.S. or allied forces.

2015 -- U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert is cut on the face and wrist by a pro-North Korean activist who said he is against the ongoing military drills by Seoul and Washington. Lippert receives an operation at Severance Hospital to treat the wound. It is the first time a U.S. ambassador is attacked in South Korea.

2019 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returns to Pyongyang after a trip to Vietnam for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and an official visit to the Southeast Asian country. The summit held on Feb. 27-28 ended without a deal.
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