Seoul: Today in Korean history reveals significant events that have marked the nation's past. In 1926, Song Hak-seon, a Korean independence fighter, made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Makoto Saito, the Japanese governor general in Korea. This event was a part of the broader struggle against Japanese colonial rule.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in 1960, a tragic incident unfolded when Lee Ki-boong, who had recently resigned as vice president following the April 19 student revolution for democracy, committed suicide with his family at the presidential residence in Seoul. This act underscored the intense political pressures and turmoil of the time.
In another dramatic event, 1986 saw two student activists from Seoul National University, Kim Se-jin and Lee Je-ho, setting themselves on fire as a protest against war and nuclear armament, highlighting the fervent activism of the era.
Fast forward to 1995, when a catastrophic gas explosion occurred during morning rush hour at a subway station construction site in Daegu, located 302 kilometers southeast of Seoul. This tragic incident resulted in over 100 fatalities, marking one of the deadliest accidents in the nation's history.
In 1997, Park Suk-tae, a former executive of Korea First Bank, took his own life at his home in Seoul. His suicide followed his testimony at a parliamentary hearing on a corruption scandal involving the Hanbo Group, which implicated numerous creditor banks in a kickback scheme.
Moving to a more hopeful event in 2002, a reunion took place at the Mount Geumgang resort in North Korea, bringing together family members separated by the Korean War from both North and South Korea.
A historic milestone was achieved in 2008 when Yi So-yeon, South Korea's first astronaut, returned home from her mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Her journey made South Korea the 36th nation to send an astronaut into space, and she became the 49th woman to reach orbit.
In a significant financial announcement in 2021, the heirs of the late Samsung Group chief Lee Kun-hee declared their intention to pay over 12 trillion won in inheritance taxes, setting a record for the largest such payment in South Korean history.