Today in Korean history

Oct. 7

1950 -- The U.N. General Assembly authorizes U.S.-led U.N. forces to advance into the North Korean side of the inter-Korean border. The tide of the Korean War turned in favor of the U.N. side after U.S. General Douglas MacArthur landed forces at Incheon. The war ended in a stalemate in 1953 roughly along the same borderline that existed before the conflict started.

1964 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Uruguay.

1979 -- Kim Hyung-wook, a former head of the now-defunct Korean Central Intelligence Agency, goes missing in Paris. Kim went into exile abroad in the early 1970s after criticizing his former mentor, then President Park Chung-hee.

1989 -- Pope John Paul II visits South Korea.

1998 -- President Kim Dae-jung and first lady Lee Hee-ho leave for a four-day state visit to Japan. After a meeting with Japanese Emperor Akihito, Kim held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to announce a joint declaration, in which they pledged to overcome the past and build new relations. In the declaration, Obuchi said he "humbly accepted the historical fact that Japanese colonial rule inflicted horrendous damage and pain on the Korean people" and expressed remorse.

2003 -- South Korea, China and Japan agree to cooperate to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction throughout the world and to peacefully resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

The agreement was adopted at a summit between South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. They had gathered in Bali for the annual ASEAN-plus-three forum, a meeting of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus South Korea, Japan and China.

2018 -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
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