Today in Korean History

March 2

1906 -- Hirobumi Ito assumes duties as Japan's first governor-general of Korea.

1959 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic ties with Norway.

1960 -- A large fire breaks out at a rubber factory in Busan, killing 62 people.

1994 -- The government reinstates 1,135 teachers fired for taking part in union activities.

2002 -- The Korea National Tourism Organization buys an inn and hot spring spa run by Hyundai Asan on Mount Kumgang, North Korea, for 46.2 billion won.

2004 -- The National Assembly passes an individual debt restructuring bill designed to help people refinance their debts.

2005 -- The National Assembly endorses a revision bill that calls for the abolition of a male-dominated family registration system, or Hojuje in Korean.

2007 -- South and North Korea agree to resume reunions of families separated across the border at the 20th round of inter-Korean ministerial talks held in Pyongyang. Inter-Korean talks and family reunions had been suspended since the North's nuclear weapons test in October 2006.

2016 -- The National Assembly passes North Korean human rights bill. The approved law, first submitted in August 2005, calls for government-led efforts to investigate and fix human rights violations perpetrated by the North Korean regime.

2020 -- North Korea fires what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea. It marked the first such launches since its leader Kim Jong-un said in his New Year's Day message it would show off a "new strategic weapon" in the near future.
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