South Korea's Key Historical Events and Developments

July 8

1951 -- The U.S.-led U.N. Command begins talks with North Korea to end the Korean War, which began with a southward North Korean invasion on June 25, 1950. The negotiations, which dragged on for two more years, came to a close on July 27, 1953, when a cease-fire agreement was signed.

1977 -- The remains of Ahn Ik-tae, the composer of South Korea's national anthem, are returned from Spain, where he died. Ahn had married a Spanish woman and lived in a small town outside Madrid.

1988 -- South Korea's government decides to refer to China by its official name, the People's Republic of China. The move came ahead of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China, an ideological ally of North Korea, in 1992.

1994 -- Then North Korean President Kim Il-sung dies of heart failure at age 82, a few weeks before he was to hold what would have been the first-ever inter-Korean summit with South Korea's then President Kim Young-sam.

In 2000, his son, Kim Jong-il, met then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in a summit that touched off a flurry of reconciliation projects between the two countries.

2009 -- Unidentified cyber hackers renew attacks on seven major South Korean internet websites, including AhnLab Inc., which provides computer virus vaccines and online security services.

2013 -- South Korea and the United States wrap up interviews with the four pilots of the ill-fated Asiana Airlines flight as part of a joint investigation to identify the cause of the passenger jet crash in San Francisco.

2016 -- Seoul's defense ministry says South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, a high-tech anti-ballistic missile interception system, in South Korea to boost the allies' defense against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

2018 -- President Moon Jae-in arrives in India for a state visit as he embarks on a two-nation trip that will later take him to Singapore.

2022 -- The ruling People Power Party suspends the party membership of leader Lee Jun-seok for six months over allegations that he received sexual services paid for by a businessman seeking his influence in 2013 and attempted to cover up the wrongdoing after the allegations surfaced.