Today in Korean history

July 11

1866 -- The U.S. commercial ship General Sherman is set alight in a clash with Koreans after it sailed into the Taedong River, which flows through Pyongyang, now the North Korean capital. The ship sought to open trade with Korea, then a "hermit kingdom."

1876 -- Kim Koo, one of the most revered Korean patriots, is born. A key leader of the provisional Korean government in exile in Shanghai, China, during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea, Kim played a pivotal role in consolidating the nation after independence from Japan at the end of World War II in 1945. He was assassinated by an ultra-rightist man at his home in Seoul.

1961 -- North Korea and China sign a military alliance treaty in Beijing.

2005 -- The two Koreas hold a 10th round of economic talks in Seoul and agree to conduct a trial run of two cross-border railways and open two adjacent roads in October.

2006 -- The two Koreas hold a 19th round of Cabinet-level talks in the southeastern port city of Busan to discuss a number of issues, including South Korea's rice aid to the North and disputes surrounding North Korea's missile launches in early July of that year.

2008 -- A South Korean tourist at North Korea's Mount Kumkang resort is shot dead by a North Korean soldier.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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