Today in Korean history

Dec. 13

1863 -- Emperor Gojong ascends to the throne at the age of 12 to become the 26th monarch of the Joseon Dynasty. His reign lasts until 1907, during which, his wife, Empress Myeongseong, is killed by Japanese assassins in 1895. Japan later annexes the country and rules the peninsula for 36 years until Korea's liberation at the end of World War II.

1990 -- President Roh Tae-woo visits the Soviet Union.

2002 -- U.S. President George W. Bush apologizes to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung by phone for the deaths of two South Korean schoolgirls run over by a U.S. military vehicle.

2011 -- Park Tae-joon, founder and honorary chairman of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO, dies of lung disease at age 84.

2013 -- North Korea's Korean Central News Agency announces that Jang Song-thaek, the disgraced uncle of the North's state leader Kim Jong-un, has been executed after a military trial found him guilty of "anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional" charges.

2016 -- The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan hold talks in Seoul to discuss cooperation against North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threats. They pledged to closely cooperate in carrying out sanctions on North Korea over its September nuclear test.

2017 -- President Moon Jae-in leaves for China for a four-day state trip that was to include talks with President Xi Jinping.

2018 -- South and North Korea agree to hold a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 26 for an inter-Korean project on modernizing North Korean railways and roads and connecting them to the South.
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