Today in Korean history

1979 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Kuwait.

1983 -- The Bank of Korea newly issues 5,000 won and 10,000 won notes.

2004 -- Park Ji-won, a lifetime aide to former President Kim Dae-jung, is sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of taking 15 billion won (US$14 million) in illegal slush funds from Hyundai Group right before the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000.

2013 -- High-level inter-Korean talks are called off one day before the scheduled meeting due to a disagreement over the level of their respective chief delegates. The meeting would have been the first of its kind in six years and the first since the launch of President Park Geun-hye's administration.

2019 -- The wreckage of a tour boat is salvaged from the Danube River in Hungary around two weeks after its deadly sinking. The sightseeing boat, carrying 33 Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members, capsized and sank after colliding with a large Swiss cruise ship on May 29. The accident claimed 25 lives, with one South Korean missing.

2025 -- South Korea's military suspends its loudspeaker broadcasts along the border with North Korea as President Lee Jae Myung's administration seeks to mend strained ties with Pyongyang. The halt came a year after the military had resumed such propaganda broadcasts in June of 2024, in response to North Korea's repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons across the heavily fortified border.(END)