Today in Korean history

March 25

1929 -- Gyeongseong University, founded in 1924 by Japan, graduates its first students. After the end of World War II, the university was closed in 1946 and was later merged with other colleges into Seoul National University.

1949 -- Korea establishes an embassy in Washington.

1989 -- Rev. Mun Ik-hwan visits North Korea without the permission of the South Korean government, where he meets the North's leader, Kim Il-sung. On his return to South Korea, Rev. Mun was arrested and placed in prison.

2017 -- The Sewol ferry is lifted from the sea bed and placed onto the floating deck of a semisubmersible ship as the first step to salvage the ship, which had been about 40 meters under water. The 145-meter-long, 6,825-ton vessel capsized off the southwestern coast of the peninsula near the island of Jindo while en route to the resort island of Jeju on April 16, 2014. Its sinking, one of the worst maritime disasters in South Korea's history, left 304 people dead, including nine still missing.
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