Today in Korean history

March 14

1902 -- A ground-breaking ceremony is held in Mapo, central Seoul, to mark the beginning of construction on the Gyongui railway linking Sinuiju, a city on the Korean Peninsula's border with China, and Busan, a southeastern port city.

1940 -- A cruise ship capsizes in the sea off Tongyeong, a city in South Gyeongsang province.

1951 -- The South Korean army and United Nations forces retake Seoul after it was occupied by the North Korean People's Army during the Korean war.

1973 -- The second meeting of the inter-Korean Coordinating Committee is held in Pyongyang. The committee was organized to implement the inter-Korean joint communique of July 4, 1972 in which the two sides agreed to achieve the peaceful reunification of the peninsula.

1991 -- The Nakdong River is contaminated by phenol that leaked from an electronics company in Gumi, a city in North Gyeongsang province.

2002 -- A group of 25 North Korean refugees rushes into the Spanish Embassy in Beijing to seek asylum in South Korea.