Today in Korean history

March 24

1881 -- A group of Joseon Dynasty Confucian scholars from the southeastern region of the Korean Peninsula present an appeal with 10,000 signatures to the royal throne, protesting the opening of trade and commerce to foreign countries.

1895 -- A Joseon Dynasty cabinet led by Kim Hong-jip launches a drastic reform drive. Kim was pressured into the drive by the Japanese government in a bid to spread its social standards and culture throughout Korea for colonization. The reform drive, however, provoked anti-Japanese feelings among Koreans and ended without visible results.

1929 -- Gyeongseong Imperial University, the predecessor of Seoul National University, holds its first graduation ceremony.

1949 -- Chang Myon, the first South Korean ambassador to the United States, takes office in Washington.

1951 -- South Korean forces advance north of the 38th Parallel, which roughly bisects the Korean Peninsula, during the three-year Korean War (1950-1953).

1969 -- A research team led by Lee Yong-kak, a professor at the College of Medicine of Catholic University in Seoul, successfully completes the country's first kidney transplant.

2002 -- A special prosecution team announces the results of its investigation into what is dubbed Lee Yong-ho-gate, a corruption scandal involving high-level government officials, senior prosecutors and intelligence officials. The prosecution said several top-level officials collaborated with Lee to manipulate the stock market. Lee was later charged with embezzling 68 billion won (US$53.7 million).

2009 -- South Korea and the European Union (EU) reach a tentative free trade agreement and agree to seek to finalize the deal in early April. They began the talks in May 2007, with differences over industrial tariffs and auto trade initially hampering progress.

2018 -- North Korea accepts South Korea's proposal to hold high-level talks on March 29 to discuss the date and agenda items for an inter-Korean summit slated for late April.
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