Today in Korean history

July 26

1950 -- About 300 South Korean civilian refugees are killed by retreating U.S. troops at Nogun-ri, a village in central South Korea, during the early weeks of the Korean War. In 1999, after repeated denials, the U.S. government under then-President Bill Clinton acknowledged that the massacre took place and expressed deep regret, offering a set of reconciliation measures -- a US$1 million monument and a $780,000 scholarship fund -- that have yet to be carried out.

1957 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic ties with Jordan.

1989 -- The Education Ministry disciplines 1,516 elementary, middle and high school teachers for joining the progressive National Teachers' Union. Union members begin an indefinite hunger strike at Myeongdong Cathedral in downtown Seoul to protest the decision.

1993 -- An Asiana Airlines Boeing 737 flying the Seoul-Mokpo route crashes near Mokpo Airport, killing 66 passengers and injuring 44 others.

1995 -- President Kim Young-sam, in an address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in Washington, stresses permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula can only be achieved through inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation.

2000 -- South and North Korea hold their first-ever foreign ministerial talks in Bangkok.

2001 -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il embarks on a month-long trip to Russia by train.

2006 -- South Korea's main opposition party sweeps parliamentary by-elections.

2007 -- South Korea dispatches a special presidential envoy to Afghanistan to work for the release of 22 South Korean nationals taken by the Taliban after one hostage was shot and killed.

2010 -- South Korea and the United States stage massive anti-submarine exercises in the East Sea to deter North Korea from any future attack.
(END)