Today in Korean history

May 21

1947 -- The second U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission opens to discuss forming a joint transitional government and trusteeship in Korea. The talks broke off on July 10. The ideological divide between Washington and Moscow that was reflected in southern and northern Korea, respectively, led to the 1950-1953 Korean War.

1961 -- The junta led by Gen. Park Chung-hee announces the arrest of some 2,000 alleged communist sympathizers and 4,200 supposed gangsters nationwide. Park, who just days earlier on May 16 had taken over the country in a military coup and was later to make himself president, conducted a massive manhunt against those critical of his political power.

1989 -- South Korea hosts the annual convention of Rotary International at Seoul Olympic Stadium. About 420,000 participants from 120 nations joined the event.

2004 -- The Seoul Central District Court rules that three military conscientious objectors are not guilty of violating the military service law for the first time. In South Korea, all able-bodied men must complete at least two years of compulsory military service.

2009 -- South Korean female climber Oh Eun-sun climbs the 11th peak of the 14 eight-thousanders in the Himalayas.

2018 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in heads to Washington for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump to help broker a nuclear deal between Washington and Pyongyang. Moon's trip came as Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were set to hold their first-ever summit on June 12.

2021 -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, agree on the importance of a stronger alliance between their nations, in their first-ever summit at the White House in Washington.

2022 -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his American counterpart, Joe Biden, hold their first summit in Seoul and agree to begin discussions on expanding joint military exercised between the two countries amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.
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