Today in Korean history

Today in Korean history



Aug. 19

1964 - South Korea joins the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international
organization of parliaments of sovereign states.

1980 - The Culture Ministry under the Chun Doo-hwan administration forces 617
publishing companies to close by canceling their registration with the ministry.
The general-turned-president had earlier announced a policy to remove or merge
some media organizations so as to "make society cleaner," a pretext to restrict
the freedom of the press.

1993 - The National Assembly passes a bill on the implementation of a real-name
financial transaction system, an election pledge of President Kim Young-sam. The
system, aimed at fighting corruption and ensuring more transparent transactions,
requires all bank accounts to be under the name of the actual account holder.

1997 - The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, an international
consortium for the construction of two light-water nuclear reactors in North
Korea, starts operations.

2000 - North Korea's national orchestra holds its first performance in Seoul.

2003 - The Constitutional Court nominates Chon Hyo-suk as one of its nine
justices. In September, Chon became the first woman to take a post on the bench.
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