Korean History

한국의 전적

/msg me with additions or corrections.
Mad props to mauler for inspiring this format in his nodes on Japanese history and Chinese history.

World History > Korean History

Prehistory (to 2333 BC)

• c. 700000 BC - First humans migrate to the Korean Peninsula.
• c. 6000 BC - Neolithic culture.

Ancient Korea (2333 BC - 57 BC)

• 2333 BC - Old Choson is founded by Tangun.
• 1122 BC - Kija arrives from Shang-dynasty China.
• 311 BC - Qinkai of Yen invades Choson.
• 194 BC - Wiman takes King Jun's throne.
• 108 BC - Wudi of Han invades Choson, setting up the Four Commandaries.
• 82 BC - Zhenfan and Lindun are eliminated.

Three Kingdoms (57 BC - 562 CE)

• 57 BC - Silla is founded.
• 37 BC - Koguryo is founded.
• 18 BC - Paekche is founded.
• AD 42 - Kaya is founded.
• 244 - Wei invasion of Koguryo.
• 372 - Koguryo becomes Korea's first Buddhist kingdom.
• 433 - Paekche and Silla form an alliance.
• 475 - Koguryo invades Paekche.
• 532 to 562 - Silla absorbs Kaya.

Silla Dynasty (562 - 935)

• 642 - Taizong of Tang attempts to invade Koguryo; is defeated at Ansi.
• 660 - Silla and Tang forces defeat Paekche.
• 698 - Parhae is established by Tae Jo Yong.
• 900 - Kyon Hwon proclaims Latter Paekche.

Koryo Dynasty (918 - 1392)

• 918 - Wang Kon overthrows Kung Ye, destroying Silla.
• 956 - Slavery abolished.
• 993 - Koryo makes peace with Parhae, now called Liao.
• 1125 - Jin conquers Liao.
• 1126 - Koryo palace burns: thousands of manuscripts are lost in the blaze.
• 1215 - Mongols conquer Jin.
• 1231 - Mongol invasion of Korea
• 1232 - Royal family flees to Kanghwa Island.
• 1388 - Yi Songgye takes over Koryo court.

Chosôn Dynasty (1392 - 1910)

• 1392 - Yi Songgye, now known as Taejo, founds Choson Court.
• 1394 - Seoul becomes Korea's capital.
• 1419 - Tsushima Islands conquered by King Sejong The Great.
• 1443 - Hangul invented.
• 1498-1545 - Literati Purges
• 1592, 1597 - Invasions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
• 1627, 1636 - Manchu invasions.
• 1871 - In an attempt to open up Korea, the United States initiates the First Korean War.
• 1876 - Ito Hirobumi forces the Treaty of Kanghwa on Emperor Kojong, marking the opening of Korea.
• 1894 - Sino-Japanese War
• 1905 - Korea becomes a protectorate of Japan.
• 1909 - Ito Hirobumi is assassinated by An Chung Gun.

Chosen in the Japanese Empire (1910 - 1945)

• 1910 - Korea is annexed by Japan, and becomes Chosen.
• 1919 - March First Movement, the genesis of Korean nationalism. Saito Makoto becomes governor-general.
• 1922 - Korean Communist Party formed.
• 1929 - Kwangju Student Movement
• 1931 - Japan implements new rice production plan, leaving many Koreans hungry. Ugaki Kazushige becomes governor-general.
• 1935 - Koreans required to attend Shinto ceremonies.
• 1936 - Minami Jiro becomes governor-general.
• 1939 - In the Names Order, all Koreans are forced to adopt a Japanese name.
• 1941-1945 - World War II

The Korean Schism (1945 - 1953)

• 1945 - Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel divide Korea up into a Soviet North Korea and an American South Korea along the 38th parallel. The Korean People's Republic is quickly dissolved as both sides rush to occupy their respective halves of the peninsula.
• 1946 - Committee for Total National Mobilization Against Trusteeship is formed in protest of the Moscow Agreement.
• 1947 - United Nations Temporary Committee on Korea is formed.
• 1948 - Syngman Rhee becomes first president of the Republic of Korea. Kim Il Sung becomes first premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
• 1950 - Korean War begins. South Korea appears to be defeated until Douglas MacArthur lands UN troops at Inchon. He marches to the Yalu River, and is then attacked by forces from the People's Republic of China, who push the UN forces back through Seoul.
• 1951 - UN recaptures Seoul. Both sides entrench themselves along the 38th parallel.
• 1952 - Kim Il Sung begins a massive purge of opposing Workers Party officials that lasts until 1956.
• 1953 - Armistice signed; Korean War ends (sort of). POW's are repatriated over the Bridge of No Return.

The Two Koreas (1953 - present)

• 1954 - Sun Myung Moon founds the Unification Church.
• 1955 - Kim Il Sung first defines juche. Choi Hong-Hi gives a name to his new martial art: tae kwon do.
• 1958 - North Korea begins its Chollima economic campaign.
• 1960 - Rhee is forced to resign after an election scandal. Park Chung Hee becomes president of South.
• 1961 - KCIA founded.
• 1965 - Korea-Japan Basic Treaty signed. North Korea builds its first nuclear reactor, Yongbyon, with Soviet help.
• 1968 - North Korea attacks the Blue House, and then seizes the USS Pueblo in international waters: America responds with Operation Red Fox.
• 1972 - Kim Il Sung's 60th birthday celebration engulfs the North. KCIA director Lee Hu Pak secretly meets with Kim. North and South Korea issue Joint Statement on Unification. Park declares martial law in South, introducing yushin.
• 1974 - Park's wife is assassinated in the National Theater, ending unification talks.
• 1975 - North joins the Non-Aligned Movement.
• 1976 - Operation Paul Bunyan
• 1979 - KCIA director Kim Chae Kyu assassinates Park. Choe Kyu Ha becomes president of South.
• 1980 - General Chun Doo Hwan seizes power in a South Korean coup.
• 1981 - New South Korean constitution promulgated. KCIA becomes National Intelligence Service.
• 1983 - Korean Air flight 007 is shot down. North Koreans kill seventeen members of Chun's cabinet in a Rangoon bomb blast.
• 1985 - U.S. intelligence discovers the Yongbyon reactor, and the North is pressured to enter the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
• 1987 - North Korean spy Kim Hyun Hee is captured following the bombing of Korean Air flight 858.
• 1988 - Chun steps down amid widespread demonstrations; Roh Tae Woo becomes president of South. Seoul Olympics. North's economy reaches its peak, and begins a steady decline in output that will last into the next century.
• 1991 - Construction is halted on the Ryugyong Hotel, the North's tallest building.
• 1992 - North agrees to halt its nuclear program and accepts IAEA inspectors. China establishes relations with South.
• 1993 - North withdraws from Non-Proliferation Treaty. Kim Young Sam elected president of South.
• 1994 - In a tense nuclear atmosphere, Jimmy Carter travels to North Korea. Kim Il Sung dies, and is replaced by son Kim Jong Il.
• 1995 - Sampoong Department Store Collapse claims hundreds of lives in Seoul.
• 1997 - Asian Financial Crisis. Kim Dae Jung elected president of South.
• 1998 - North Korea launches its first Taepodong missile, proving that it has ICBM capability.
• 2000 - Kim Dae Jung and Kim Jong Il meet for the first time, at the peak of the sunshine policy. U.S. and Japan ease economic sanctions on the North. Kim Dae Jung receives the Nobel Peace Prize. Incheon International Airport and the Seohae Grand Bridge open.
• 2002 - World Cup : Korea/Japan 2002. George W. Bush includes North Korea in the Axis of Evil. Roh Moo Hyun elected president of South amid mass anti-American protests. North expels observers and shuts off cameras at Yongbyon.