Today in Korean history

Nov. 18

1884 -- The Joseon Dynasty, Korea's last kingdom, opens the first general post office in Seoul, inaugurating a modern postal service in the country. The service initially covered the Seoul-Incheon area.

1954 -- The mutual defense treaty between South Korea and the United States officially goes into effect.

1992 -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin arrives in Seoul for a three-day visit, becoming the first Russian leader to visit South Korea since the two former Cold War adversaries established diplomatic relations two years earlier.

1992 -- South Korea and Croatia establish diplomatic relations.

1992 -- South Korea and Slovenia establish diplomatic relations.

1994 -- South Korea and Zimbabwe establish diplomatic relations.

1998 -- Hyundai Group kicks off the Mount Kumgang tour project by sending a luxury cruise ship from the South Korean port of Donghae to a port at the scenic mountain on North Korea's east coast. The ship, the Hyundai Kumgang, carried 1,356 South Koreans, including 826 tourists and 419 crew members, on its maiden voyage for the first inter-Korean business project.

2006 -- Leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan hold their first three-way summit in four years in Hanoi and reconfirm their close cooperation on regional peace and stability, and the settlement of the North Korean nuclear problem.

2014 -- South Korea's unification ministry signs a deal with the World Food Program on promoting cooperation to aid North Korea.

2016 -- South Korea decides not to allow Google Inc. to use government-supplied map data outside the country, citing possible security breaches.
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