Today in Korean history

668 A.D.: The Goguryeo Kingdom, established in 37 B.C., succumbs to a coalition of Silla Kingdom and Tang Dynasty troops from China. This kingdom, considered the predecessor to modern-day Korea, extended from parts of present-day North Korea to Manchuria in northeastern China. Historical sites like royal tombs, murals, castles, and monuments from the Goguryeo era were recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites in July 2004.

1953 A.D.: Senior North Korean air force lieutenant No Kum-sok flees to South Korea via a MiG-15 aircraft. The pilot departed from Sunan airfield near Pyongyang and crossed into South Korean territory to reach a base near Seoul. Following his defection, he was granted political asylum in the United States the subsequent year.

1996 A.D.: The International Atomic Energy Agency votes to urge North Korea to safeguard all data pertinent to confirming the nation's original report on nuclear material inventory. During the agency's general meeting in Vienna, concerns were raised over North Korea's continued noncompliance with the safeguards agreement.

1998 A.D.: The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, is awarded the Seoul Peace Prize for his contributions to global peace and humanitarian efforts. The prestigious award, valued at US$200,000 annually, is bestowed upon individuals or organizations who have made significant strides in fostering peace, in honor of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

2001 A.D.: General Motors Corp. (GM) enters into a memorandum of understanding with Daewoo Motor Co., a struggling Korean automobile manufacturer. Through an agreement with Daewoo's primary creditor, Korea Development Bank, GM agreed to pay an equivalent of $1.2 billion in preferred shares to acquire Daewoo Motor's assets. Creditors were granted permission to sell the preferred stock received from the GM takeover after a ten-year period.

2004 A.D.: North Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Russian President Vladimir Putin announce a comprehensive partnership during a summit held at the Kremlin. The leaders agreed to collaborate on six-party talks regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons program, combating international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, developing oil and natural gas reserves in Siberia, linking the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Trans-Korean Railway, and transferring Russian space technology to South Korea.

2013 A.D.: North Korea unexpectedly postpones the planned family reunion event four days before the scheduled date, citing what it termed as Seoul's confrontational policy. The two Koreas had been scheduled to hold the reunion at the North's mountain resort of Kumgang from September 25-30, marking the first of its kind in more than three years.

2017 A.D.: Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in implores the United Nations to assume a more active role in peacefully resolving the North Korean nuclear issue during his inaugural address to the U.N. General Assembly, deeming it the most pressing challenge facing the global body.

2023 A.D.: The South Korean National Assembly passes a motion seeking parliamentary consent for the potential arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, alongside another motion calling for the dismissal of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. This marks the first instance in which a dismissal motion against a prime minister has been approved by the National Assembly.