Today in Korean history

July 19

1965 -- Former South Korean President Rhee Syng-man dies in exile in Hawaii.

1980 -- The administration of President Chun Doo-hwan dismisses 431 managers and executives from banks, insurance firms and securities firms.

1985 -- South Korea's southeastern city of Busan begins to operate a metropolitan subway line.

1988 -- Seoul permits the publication of works by writers who supported North Korea before the 1950-53 Korean War.

1992 -- North Korea's deputy prime minister, Kim Tal-hyon, arrives in Seoul via the truce village of Panmunjom for talks with South Korean officials.

2000 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

2001 -- South Korea's Constitutional Court rules against the nationwide proportional representation system. A revised form of the system was later introduced in which some of the seats in the National Assembly are determined by the proportion of a party's electoral vote.

2007 -- Taliban militants kidnap 23 South Korean Christian volunteers in Afghanistan.

2008 -- Unification Church founder Rev. Moon Sun-myung is slightly injured when a civilian medical helicopter carrying him and 15 others bursts into flames after making an emergency landing near Cheongshim Hospital in Gapyeong, 60 kilometers north of Seoul.
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