Today in Korean history

Aug. 30

1920 -- Lee Dong-hui takes office as prime minister of the Korean government in exile. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

1949 -- Six students selected as the first batch of students to study abroad on government funding head to the United States.

1968 -- The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, South Korea's first umbrella body of labor unions, is launched.

1972 -- The two Koreas open a plenary session of the first inter-Korean Red Cross talks in Pyongyang.

2001 -- The government lifts "green belt restrictions" on 330-million-square meters of land in seven major cities. It also discloses identities of 169 people who molested minors.

2007 -- Taliban insurgents free the last seven South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, putting an end to the 43-day hostage crisis following the release of 12 others a day before. The release of the hostages kidnapped on July 19 came just two days after the Taliban agreed to free the South Koreans in exchange for the withdrawal of South Korea's 200-member reconstruction units from Afghanistan by the year's end.

2010 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il calls for reopening international nuclear talks while stressing the importance of the "rising generation" taking the "baton of the traditional friendship" with China. Kim made these remarks at a banquet with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.

2014 -- "Roaring Currents," a film depicting Admiral Yi Sun-sin's dramatic victory over Japanese naval forces during Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), becomes the most profitable film in South Korea. It had 128.48 billion won in domestic sales, according to the Korean Film Council, topping the previous mark of 128.47 billion won set by Hollywood science fiction "Avatar" in 2010.

2018 -- South and North Korea are unable to carry out a planned joint field survey of a cross-border railway because of the United Nations Command's disapproval. The U.S.-led UNC did not approve the movement of related equipment through the Demilitarized Zone, which bisects the two Koreas, due to Seoul's failure to meet its guideline of providing notification 48 hours in advance.
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