Key Events in Korean Peninsula History

918 -- Wang Geon establishes the Goryeo Kingdom, unifying three states on the Korean Peninsula. One of them, the Silla Kingdom, had declined following its 1,000-year rule that started in 57 B.C. The other two states -- post-Baekje and post-Koguryo -- had briefly emerged in the southwestern and the northern parts of the peninsula with historic legacies tied to the Baekje and Koguryo kingdoms.

1962 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Paraguay.

1994 -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visits North Korea to resolve a dispute over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

1999 -- Warships from South and North Korea exchange fire off the west coast of the peninsula.

2000 -- Then President Kim Dae-jung and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il announce a five-point joint statement aimed at increasing economic and social exchanges between the Koreas in the first-ever inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang.

2004 -- Warships from South and North Korea exchange radio messages for the first time to express non-hostility. The prearranged 15-minute exchange, which took place at 9 a.m., marked the first direct contact between combat-ready field units of the two states.

2005 -- North Korea jacks up anti-U.S. rhetoric at a gathering in Pyongyang to mark the fifth anniversary of the historic inter-Korean summit. The move contrasted with the cooperative mood that prevailed at a pro-unification festival attended by 700 government and civilian delegates from both Koreas.

2009 -- Eom Yong-sun, a 34-year-old South Korean woman, is found dead in northern Yemen, along with eight other foreigners who had belonged to an international relief group, after being presumably kidnapped and killed by a group of insurgents.

2017 -- Seoul National University Hospital officially changes the cause of death of Baek Nam-gi -- a farmer who died after being hit by a police water cannon during a protest in 2015 -- from kidney failure to external injury.