Key Events in Korean History on June 4

June 4

1886 -- Korea signs a treaty of commerce and amity with France, legalizing French business and religious activities in the country. The period from 1876 until the fall of the Joseon Dynasty in 1910 is referred to as an open-door era, when the country opened its ports and built commercial ties with Japan, the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia and France.

1920 -- The independence army of Korea defeats Japanese forces in a battle in Manchuria, northeastern China.

Korea's first public bathhouse opens in Pyongyang, now the North Korean capital.

1950 -- South Korea and Japan sign a trade treaty, five years after liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

1970 -- A South Korean naval vessel carrying 20 soldiers is seized by a North Korean Navy ship in waters off Yeonpyeong, a South Korean island just below the western maritime border. The South Korean boat disappeared, and its crew has never been heard from since.

1970 -- South Korea's first solar power plant is completed on the western island of Acha in Gyeonggi Province.

2002 -- South Korea's national football team defeats Poland 2-0 to open the group stage at the FIFA World Cup in Busan, marking the country's first victory in a World Cup match since their debut in the tournament in 1954. South Korea, which co-hosted the World Cup with Japan, later made history by becoming the first Asian team to advance to the semifinals.

2005 -- Lt. Yang Ki-jin becomes the first female pilot in South Korea's Navy with a mission to fly a Lynx anti-submarine helicopter.

2010 -- South Korea formally asks the U.N. Security Council to discuss penalties against North Korea for its deadly attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan. The attack on March 26 killed 46 sailors aboard the 1,200-ton patrol ship.

2012 -- North Korea threatens to strike the headquarters of several conservative media corporations in South Korea for allegedly insulting the communist country's new leader, Kim Jong-un. The General Staff of the Korean People's Army says its troops have aimed their rockets at the map coordinates of the Seoul headquarters of the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo newspapers, as well as the KBS, MBC and SBS television stations, and CBS radio.

2013 -- South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jung Seung-jo holds talks with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Fang Fenghui, and they agree to deepen strategic military ties.

2014 -- The sixth local elections are held at 13,665 polling stations throughout the nation to elect 3,952 officials, including 17 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors. The then main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy was considered the winner after grabbing nine of the 17 mayoral and gubernatorial posts.

2024 -- The South Korean government announces the resumption of all military activities near the Military Demarcation Line and its northwestern border islands with the full suspension of the inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement signed in 2018.