Today in Korean history

Aug. 4

1926 -- Soprano Yun Sim-deok and her lover, playwright Kim U-jin, commit suicide by jumping into the sea from a ship traveling between Japan and the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. They were both 29.

Yun, born into a poor family in Pyongyang, became a music teacher with her gifted voice and passion for success. She was also the first Korean paid by the government to study in Japan. Kim, a married man who was studying English literature in Japan at Waseda University, met Yun while participating in a student drama association there.

1949 -- Greece recognizes South Korea. A year earlier, South Korea was founded with the backing of the United States.

1964 -- The National Assembly approves a government plan to dispatch combat troops to Vietnam. It opened the way for 300,000 South Korean soldiers to fight alongside the United States during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975. Several thousand Koreans were killed in the conflict.

1998 -- Hyundai Group signs a joint investment agreement with North Korea that enabled the South Korean conglomerate to launch cruise tours to Mount Kumgang, a scenic resort area on North Korea's east coast, several months later.

2003 -- Chung Mong-hun, the head of the Hyundai Group, jumps to his death from his 12th-floor office in Seoul.

He was one of the central figures being tried for involvement in a scandal over Hyundai's secret payment of US$500 million to North Korea just before the 2000 inter-Korean summit. Following the political reconciliation, Hyundai expanded its business ties with North Korea, including a tour project to Mount Kumgang.

2008 -- Three South Korean climbers who disappeared the previous week are found dead on the Himalayan K2, the world's second-highest mountain.

2015 -- Two Army staff sergeants are seriously wounded in a land mine explosion in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone.

2018 -- The top diplomats of South Korea and the United States hold one-on-one talks in Singapore on North Korea and alliance issues on the sidelines of ASEAN-hosted annual sessions.

(END)