Key Events in South Korean History

1946 -- The Independence Army of Korea returns from China following the restoration of Korea's sovereignty from Japanese colonial rule, which ended in August 1945. The voluntary force fought against Japanese troops in Manchuria and Shanghai under the command of the Korean Provisional Government.

1948 -- South Korea sends its athletes to participate in the Olympic Games, held that year in London, marking the first time for the country to compete in the quadrennial event.

1965 -- South Korea and Japan sign a treaty in Tokyo to normalize diplomatic relations, 20 years after Korea regained sovereignty from the colonial regime. As part of the agreement, Japan paid South Korea US$800 million in grants and loans in economic cooperation funds, not in the form of compensation.

2002 -- World Cup co-hosts South Korea defeat Spain in a penalty shootout, becoming the first Asian team to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

2004 -- Kim Sun-il, a South Korean employee of a Baghdad-based foodstuff supplier for the U.S. Army, is found dead in Iraq after a militant group threatened to behead him unless the Seoul government withdrew within 24 hours its plan to send more troops to Iraq, in addition to 660 noncombatants already operating in Iraq.

2006 -- South Korea's Supreme Court allows legal gender change for transsexuals.

2014 -- An Army deserter gets apprehended after killing five soldiers and wounding seven others in one of South Korea's deadliest shooting rampages a day earlier at a general outpost in a South Korean town on the border with North Korea.