Today in Korean history

Dec. 18

1973 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Bangladesh.

1991 -- President Roh Tae-woo says he will make the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

1992 -- Kim Young-sam, a candidate of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party, is elected the 14th president of South Korea, beating his longtime rival Kim Dae-jung.

1997 -- Kim Dae-jung, a candidate of the opposition National Congress for New Politics, wins the presidential election.

2003 -- The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom releases a list of countries it claims are violators of religious freedom. The "countries of particular concern" in Asia include North Korea, China, Myanmar and Vietnam.

2008 -- North Korean senior defense official Kim Yong-chol visits the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex to hold talks with South Korean companies over restrictions on travel to the border city imposed earlier in December.

2013 -- South Korea's Supreme Court rules that regular bonuses paid to workers constitute "ordinary wages," siding with workers in a prolonged dispute over its scope. The landmark ruling was feared to add financial burden to companies that had not calculated bonuses as ordinary payment.
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