Today in Korean history

Sept. 27

1983 -- Pope John Paul II visits Seoul and elevates to sainthood 103 Korean Catholic martyrs who were executed during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

1988 -- Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tests positive for drugs and is stripped of the gold medal he won a day earlier in the men's 100-meter event at the Summer Olympics in Seoul.

2003 -- A Russian rocket carrying a South Korean scientific research satellite is successfully launched from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome base near the Arctic Ocean.

2007 -- A new round of six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea opens in Beijing amid the communist country's alleged nuclear cooperation with Syria.
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