Today in Korean history

Dec. 22

1145 -- "Samguksagi," a history book about the three kingdoms that reigned over the Korean Peninsula from 57 B.C. to A.D. 668, is published by royal scholars, including Kim Bu-hik, at the instruction of King Injong of the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392).

1902 -- A group of 121 Koreans leaves the port of Incheon to emigrate to Hawaii. They were the first Korean immigrants of the island republic, which would later be annexed to the United States, and part of some 7,800 Koreans who settled there, mostly as workers on sugarcane plantations, from 1902 to 1905.

1977 -- South Korea's exports surpass the US$10 billion mark for the first time.

1992 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

1999 -- A Korean Air cargo plane crashes on takeoff from Stansted Airport, outside London, killing its four crew members.

2000 -- Kookmin Bank and the Housing and Commercial Bank agree to merge, creating the nation's largest commercial bank.

2012 -- The top leaders of China, Japan and Russia congratulate South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye on her election victory.

2015 -- South Korea and China hold their first talks in seven years on resolving a dispute over their overlapping exclusive economic zones. The two countries have long been at odds over the ownership of Ieodo, a submerged reef controlled by Seoul. Ieodo, which lies 149 kilometers southwest of Korea's southernmost island of Marado and 247 kilometers northeast of the nearest Chinese island of Tongdao, is rich in fishery resources and strategically important in terms of sea lanes.
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