Seoul: Chun Doo-hwan, a former army general, was named president of South Korea by a hand-picked electoral college in 1980. Chun's rise to power followed an internal military coup on December 12 of the previous year, during which he arrested then martial law commander General Chung Seung-hwa.
According to Yonhap News Agency, 1992 marked a significant development in South Korea's foreign relations as China opened its embassy in Seoul. This followed the establishment of formal diplomatic ties on August 24, after South Korea's decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, further strengthening bilateral relations.
In 2003, high-stakes diplomacy unfolded in Beijing with the commencement of the six-way talks. These discussions aimed to defuse tensions surrounding North Korea's nuclear weapons program and involved key regional players: the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia.
A year later, in 2004, South Korea's parliamentary speaker Kim One-ki expressed concerns to the Chinese Communist Party leader regarding a controversial interpretation of the history of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo. The issue arose from claims that the kingdom was historically a vassal state of China, igniting a diplomatic dispute between the two nations.
In 2013, South Korea sought to rekindle cross-border tourism by proposing working-level talks with North Korea. Seoul's Ministry of Unification reached out to the North's United Front Department of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea to discuss the resumption of tours to Mount Kumgang, which had been suspended for nearly five years. This proposal was in response to Pyongyang's earlier suggestions to hold talks in late August or early September.