Today in Korean history

March 31

1938 -- Sungshil High School in Pyongyang is closed after refusing to force students to worship at Japanese shrines. Japanese authorities introduced the requirement as part of cultural colonization efforts.

1941 -- The Japanese colonial government bans the teaching and use of the Korean language in schools.

1949 -- South Korea outlaws trade with North Korea as an ideological rift deepens on the peninsula. The two sides established separate governments in 1948, and the deterioration of relations eventually led to the 1950-53 Korean War.

1959 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Denmark.

1999 -- Commercial vessels from South Korea and North Korea collide in waters off Sri Lanka. The North Korean ship sank and 37 of its crewmen went missing, but two crew members were rescued by the South Korean ship.

The North Korean Manpok-ho was blamed for the accident since it did not steer clear of the Hyundai Duke, and experts said a lack of communication between the ships was also a factor.

2014 -- The two Koreas exchange hundreds of artillery fire across the western maritime sea border of the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea for about three hours after North Korea first stages a live-fire drill, sending artillery shells into the southern side. Residents on South Korean border islands evacuate the border area with no casualties reported.

2017 -- Former President Park Geun-hye is arrested in connection with a corruption scandal that led to her removal from office. Park, ousted in a historic ruling on March 10, became the country's third former president to be arrested over criminal allegations, following Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan.
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