Today in Korean history

March 13

1946 -- A group of students stages protests against communism, spreading in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, in Hamheung, a city located in what is now North Korea. After Korea regained its sovereignty from Japan in 1945, fierce clashes between capitalists and communists continued until the country was divided by the 1950-53 Korean War.

1956 -- South Korea signs a treaty with Norway, Sweden and Finland to build a medical center in Seoul. South Korea also inks a treaty with the United States to buy surplus agricultural products.

1976 -- Choi Kyu-hah is sworn in as the 12th prime minister of the country.

1986 -- Movie director Shin Sang-ok and his wife, actress Choi Eun-hee, who were abducted by North Korea in 1978, escape the North by taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy during a visit to Vienna, Austria.

1998 -- The Kim Dae-jung administration announces a special amnesty for 5.5 million people in commemoration of the launch of his government in February.

2004 -- SK Telecom launches a digital multimedia broadcasting satellite from the John F. Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida. The launch of the satellite, named Hanbyul and code-named MBSat, signaled the advent of the era of mobile satellite-based broadcasting in South Korea.

2008 -- A special prosecutor clears Lee Jay-yong, the son of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, and dozens of senior Samsung executives of suspicions that they illegally covered up a huge loss from a failed internet venture led by the heir-apparent.

2011 -- South Korea clinches its largest-ever oil field development deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

2017 -- Senior presidential secretaries tender resignations en masse, a day after former President Park Geun-hye left the presidential office following her dismissal over a corruption scandal.

2020 -- South Korea announces a temporary ban on stock short selling for six months, starting the following Monday, amid a market rout triggered by the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
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