Today in Korean history

Aug. 31

1989 -- Dong Ah Construction Industrial Co. Ltd. clinches a US$5.3 billion order from Libya to build its waterway system. At the time, the project's budget was the largest of any project in the world.

1998 -- North Korea launches what it calls the Kwangmyongsong 1 artificial satellite, which Western countries suspect to be a missile, into space.

2002 -- Typhoon Rusa hammers the country with a central pressure of 965 hectopascals and a maximum wind speed of 33 meters per second, leading to 213 deaths and 5.1 trillion won (US$4.49 billion) in property damage.

2003 -- Prosecutors indict Kwon Roh-kap, a key aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, on charges of receiving 20 billion won ($18.4 million) in bribes from Hyundai Group in return for business favors.

2005 -- The two Koreas begin construction of a permanent meeting place for the reunions of separated families at North Korea's Mount Kumgang resort. It was completed in August 2008, after three years of construction.

2010 -- South Korea strikes a free trade agreement (FTA) with Peru, marking the second deal of its kind with a South American country, following one with Chile clinched in 2003. Korea and Peru agreed to eliminate all tariffs within 10 years after the deal takes effect, among other terms, to facilitate trade and economic growth.

2017 -- Four F-35B stealth jets and two B-1B strategic bombers from the United States train with South Korea's F-15K fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's continued ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons development.

2022 -- The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes orders South Korea to pay the U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds US$216.5 million plus interest, bringing an end to a decadelong legal battle surrounding its sell-off of a local bank.

The ordered amount was about 4.6 percent of Lone Star's demand for damages from the Korean government's delayed approval of the sale of its stake in the now-defunct Korea Exchange Bank.
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