Chronicle

Here are the past news moved from News of interest to Foreign Readers.

The previous news reports during the period 2011-12 are available here.

News in 2013

 * On Jan. 3, a Seoul court ordered a sex offender, charged with raping five minors, to be chemically castrated for the first time since the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Violence Crimes went into effect in July 2011.
 * On Jan. 4, President-elect Park Geun-hye announced 23-member presidential transition team recruiting her campaign staff and academics.
 * While President-elect Park is mulling over the reorganization of the government, public servants working at the ministries recently relocated to Sejong City have |home|top difficulties in commuting and eating.
 * On Jan. 17, the Flame of Hope for the Special Olympics was ignited at Athens, and the World Winter Games 2013 will be held at Pyeongchang during Jan. 29 - Feb. 5.
 * On Jan. 26, President-elect Park |home|top clashed with outgoing President Lee over granting special presidential pardons to politicians and businessmen who are serving jail terms for corruption.
 * On Jan. 30, Korea's first rocket Naro was successfully launched and put into the projected orbit according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute released footage showing its satellite payload.
 * On Jan. 31, Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, was sent to prison after |home|newslist1 a court found him guilty of embezzling company money and sentenced him to four years in jail.
 * On Feb. 5, the Special Olympics at Pyeongchang under the slogan "Together We Can" came to an end with grand finale (pictured).
 * On Feb. 12, North Korea conducted its third nuclear weapons test despite international condemnation.
 * As the National Assembly remained deadlocked over Park's government restructuring plan, |home|newslist1 Park Geun-hye’s new government had to begin its term with the outgoing cabinet.
 * On Feb. 25, |home|top President Park Geun-hye (pictured) took the oath of office saying "I will live up to the will of the people by achieving economic rejuvenation, the happiness of the people and the flourishing of our culture."
 * On Feb. 26, Jung Hong-won (pictured) was inaugurated as prime minister after the National Assembly confirmed him as the first cabinet member of the Park Geun-hye Administration.
 * On Mar. 11, South Korea and the U.S. kicked off their annual 10-day Key Resolve drills while Pyongyang has allegedly repealed the armistice agreement and blocked the inter-Korean hotline at Panmunjeom.
 * On Mar. 17, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party finally struck a |home|newslist1 deal to approve President Park’s plan to restructure government ministries, ending weeks of administrative paralysis.
 * On Mar. 22, the National Assembly approved a government restructuring bill 26 days after Park Geun-hye was inaugurated as President.
 * On Mar. 30, North Korea declared the state of war and threatened to close Gaeseong Industrical Complex if South Korea continues to defame the Highest Respected Authority.
 * On Apr. 3, North Korea, which had declared the 'state of war' a few days ago, blocked S. Koreans and vehicles (pictured) from entering Gaeseong Industrial Complex leaving GIC businesses in great confusion.
 * On Apr. 11, the National Assembly approved the appointment of Park Han-cheol, former prosecutor-turned Justice as the Constitutional Court chief.
 * At midnight on Apr. 12, Psy's new song "Gentleman" was released worldwide.
 * On Apr. 20, Suncheon Bay (pictured) Garden Expo will be held at Suncheon for six months.
 * On Apr. 24, President Park was reportedly to suggest at Washington summit the Seoul Process to build up trust each other by starting talks about climate change and anti-terrorism, then other sensitive issues.
 * On Apr. 26, the Government decided to withdraw all of its citizens from the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
 * On May 4, Namdaemun (pictured), originally Sungnyemun (숭례문/崇禮門), was finally restored from ashes and reopened to the public.
 * On May 7, the Korea-U.S. summit marked the 60th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance, but was tarnished by the Presidential spokesman's sex scandal at Washington D.C.
 * On May 22, an independent journalists' group in Korea disclosed a list of Korean businessmen and their families suspected of running slush funds in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands and the Cook Islands.
 * On Jun. 11, a tug of war over the representative status of the first inter-Korean talks since February 2011 eventually led to the breakdown of the anticipated North-South meeting.
 * Beginning Jun. 19, a new version of criminal laws on sex crimes come into force including |article|default rape attack against a man, like-rape, no complaint required, etc.
 * On Jun. 30, President Park Geun-hye returned to Seoul after the new-era-opening |home|newslist1 four-day state visit to China while |home|newslist1 North Korea called it disgusting.
 * On Jul. 6, a Korean passenger jet crash landed at San Francisco International Airport killing two people.
 * On Jul. 16, a special team from the |home|newslist1 Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stepped up efforts to uncover hidden assets of former President Chun Doo-hwan to collect enormous punitive fines subject to the so-called Chun Doo-hwan Act.
 * On Jul. 27, U.S. President Barack Obama called the Korean War a victory for his country and its ally South Korea, saying the sacrifice of American veterans will never be forgotten.
 * On Jul. 31, several North Koreans won the paternity suit before the Supreme Court leading to legitimate claims for inherited property in South Korea.
 * On Aug. 14, the two Koreas agreed on Gaeseong normalization after 133 days of suspension.
 * On Aug. 23, the two Koreas agreed to hold reunions of separated families at Mt. Geumgang resort during September 25-30 in the latest sign of easing tensions on the peninsula.
 * On Sep. 5, the Supreme Court full bench held hearings on a case concerning ordinary wages in open proceedings televised nationwide.
 * On Sep. 9, President Park Geun-hye paid tribute to the late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh during her state visit to Vietnam.
 * On Sep. 13, Prosecutor-General Chae quit abruptly over allegations that he had a son from an extramarital affair despite the ongoing investigation of the National Intelligence Service's involvement in the 2012 presidential election.
 * On Sep. 21, North Korea unilaterally called off family reunions scheduled for Sep. 25-30, and South Korea warned that there would be no negotiations on resuming business at Mt. Geumgang resort.
 * In Oct. amid growing concerns over the safety of fish products possibly contaminated by radioactive water out of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the domestic |home|top fish market has been hit hard by the dropping demand.
 * On Oct. 14, highly expected GIC foreign investment seminar was indefinitely postponed because of a |home|top deadlock in negotiations between two Koreas to improve three recurring (三通) problems at the factory park: Improving the communications infrastructure, streamlining customs regulations and facilitating entry procedures for cargo.
 * On Oct. 17, the International Cyberspace Conference was held at COEX Convention Center in Seoul to enhance cooperation on the issue of cybersecurity, and to build up trust on soft core issues.
 * On Oct. 24, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ |home|newslist1 Union was stripped of its status as a lawful union for keeping dismissed teachers in its ranks.
 * On Oct. 30, FSC designated Daewoo Securities, Samsung Securities, Woori Investment & Securities, Korea Investment & Securities and Hyundai Securities as Korean investment banks subject to the Capital Markets Act.
 * On Nov. 25, the Law Times (법률신문) carried an article about KoreanLII for the first time in Korea.
 * On Nov. 27, when two U.S. B-52 bombers flew over disputed islands in the East China Sea, Korea seemed to be squeezed in the air zone row among the United States, China and Japan.
 * On Nov. 29, it was reported that Korea will start negotiations to join a U.S.-led trade pact, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) covering a dozen Pacific and Asian nations.
 * On Dec. 5, the fine dust alert was issued in Seoul for the first time as fine and ultrafine dust particles continued to be blown in from China.
 * On Dec. 9, North Korea's state media confirmed the purge of Jang Song-thaek, uncle and political protector of leader Kim Jong-un leaving the Inter-Korean relations unpredictable.
 * On Dec. 13, North Korean Central News Agency report that Jang Song-thaek was executed the day before for his anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts shocked South Korea and the world.
 * On Dec. 17, police raided the offices of KORAIL labor union with a court-issued warrant as more than 6500 KORAIL workers' strike in protest against probable privatization began to produce shrinking effect on industries.
 * On Dec. 23, despite the failure of police to arrest key members of the KORAIL Union on Sunday, |home|top President made it clear that she would stick to her principles and would not compromise over the railroad workers' strike.
 * On Dec. 30, the KORAIL labor union decided to end its 22-day long strike after |home|top union leaders and lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties agreed to form a subcommittee dedicated to dealing with pressing issues in the railway industry.

News in 2014

 * On Jan. 6 in her first press conference, President Park Geun-hye claimed the |home|top reunification of the two Koreas as "daebak", a huge opportunity for the nation's economy to make a leap to a whole new level.
 * On Jan. 12, Andrew Yeom Soo jung, Archbishop of Seoul, was named as new Cardinal of Korea by Pope Francis who pays more attention to the poor.
 * On Jan. 18, three credit card companies - KB, NH, Lotte - started offering a service through which their customers could check whether their personal information had been compromised in the aftermath of the biggest card data leaks.
 * On Jan. 19, China opened a |home|newslist1 memorial hall at the Harbin Railway Station to honor Ahn Jung-geun, the Korean independence fighter who, on Oct. 26, 1909, assassinated Hirobumi Ito, the first Japanese resident-general of Korea.
 * On Jan. 24, the bird flu was reportedly spreading from North Jeolla Province to other areas and from ducks to chicken.
 * On Jan. 31, a |home|newslist1 tanker hauling crude oil crashed into a landing bridge at the Yeosu port, South Jeolla, and caused oil spill along the Yeosu coastline reviving the Sea Prince nightmare in 1995.
 * On Feb. 5, |home|top North and South Korea agreed to hold the reunions for families separated during the Korean War from Feb. 20 to 25, two groups three days each, at the Mt. Geumgang resort.
 * Starting from March through September 2014, the invaluable Kansong Collection, which |home|newslist2 stayed closed to the public except free exhibitions twice a year, will be displayed at the newly opened Dongdaemun Design Plaza, an outside exhibition for the first time.