Oct. 30
1981 — A Czech soldier who served as a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission set up under the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement defects to South Korea across the border at the truce village of Panmunjom. The Czech delegation was staying on the North Korean side of the village that sits in the western section of the Korean border. Czechoslovakia, along with Poland, represented North Korea’s interests on the four-nation commission. Switzerland and Sweden represented the American-led U.N. Command.
1993 — A 7.5-kilometer subway track opens connecting seven stations on Line No. 3 from Yangjae Station to Suseo Station.
1997 — South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Cambodia at the ambassador level.
1999 — A fire sweeps through a beer hall in the western city of Incheon, killing 56 people, mostly high school girls. The students had rented the venue for a party.
2002 — The T-50 Golden Eagle, the first indigenous supersonic aircraft developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and U.S.-based Lockheed Martin, successfully completes its maiden flight.
2018 — The Supreme Court orders Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel to pay 100 million won (US$86,000) each to four South Koreans in compensation for wartime forced labor and unpaid work during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
