Korea in the 2010s: The Global Korean Wave and the Candlelight Protests

PSY's "Gangnam Style" became a worldwide hit in 2012, and as BTS and others later found success in North America, the Korean Wave spread beyond East Asia to the rest of the world. In April 2014 the sinking of the ferry Sewol killed 304 people. After the Park Geun-hye–Choi Soon-sil scandal broke in 2016, mass rallies demanding the president's resignation followed, and after the National Assembly voted to impeach her, the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment on 10 March 2017.

Year by year

Korea in 2010

The sinking of the Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island sharply raised tensions on the peninsula. Seoul hosted the G20 summit, Kim Yu-na’s Olympic gold in Vancouver and the team’s first World Cup knockout-stage…

• Mar 26The navy corvette Cheonan sank near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors.
• Jun 2The fifth nationwide simultaneous local elections were held.
• Nov 11Seoul hosted the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ summit.

Korea in 2011

Pyeongchang won the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics on its third attempt. A Seoul referendum on free school lunches and a mayoral by-election shook up politics, while torrential rains and a large-scale blackout d…

• Jan 21Navy special forces rescued the crew of the Samho Jewelry, hijacked by Somali pirates, in Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden.
• JulPyeongchang was chosen to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
• Jul 27Torrential rain in central Korea triggered landslides on Seoul’s Umyeonsan, causing deaths.

Korea in 2012

A year of both legislative and presidential elections, it ended with Park Geun-hye elected as Korea’s first female president in December. The Yeosu Expo opened and Sejong Special Self-Governing City was launched, while…

• Apr 11The 19th National Assembly elections were held.
• May 12The Yeosu Expo opened under the theme “The Living Ocean and Coast.”
• Jul 1Sejong Special Self-Governing City, a new administrative hub, was officially launched.

Korea in 2013

Shortly after the Park Geun-hye administration took office, North Korea’s third nuclear test and the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex chilled inter-Korean relations. The Naro rocket succeeded on its third atte…

• Jan 30On its third attempt, the Naro rocket successfully placed a satellite in orbit.
• Feb 12North Korea conducted its third nuclear test.
• Feb 25Park Geun-hye was inaugurated as president.

Korea in 2014

In April, the sinking of the Sewol ferry claimed 304 lives, plunging the nation into deep grief and intensifying demands for a safer society. Incheon hosted the Asian Games, and the film “The Admiral: Roaring Currents”…

• Feb 17The roof of a gymnasium at the Mauna Ocean Resort in Gyeongju collapsed during a university orientation event, killing students and others.
• Apr 16The Sewol ferry sank off Jindo, South Jeolla Province, killing 304 people, many of them Danwon High School students on a school trip.
• Jun 4The sixth nationwide simultaneous local elections were held.

Korea in 2015

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) entered the country and spread, dampening activity across society. A DMZ landmine incident sent inter-Korean tensions soaring before high-level talks calmed them, and at year’s en…

• Mar 3The National Assembly passed the so-called Kim Young-ran Act, banning improper solicitation and gifts to public officials and others.
• May 20After Korea’s first MERS case was confirmed, infections spread, mainly within hospitals.
• AugLandmines exploded in the DMZ, wounding South Korean soldiers; after a tense standoff, high-level talks produced an agreement.

Korea in 2016

The match between the AI program AlphaGo and Go master Lee Sedol drew global attention, and Gyeongju was hit by what was then the strongest earthquake on record in the country. From autumn, candlelight protests over the…

• Jan 6North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test at the Punggye-ri test site in Kilju County.
• Feb 10The Park Geun-hye government shut down the Kaesong Industrial Region and recalled all South Korean staff.
• Mar 9DeepMind’s Go program AlphaGo played a five-game match against Lee Sedol in Seoul from March 9 to 15, winning every game except the fourth.

Korea in 2017

The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, making her the first Korean president removed from office, and Moon Jae-in won the early election in May. North Korea carried out its sixth nuclear test,…

• Mar 10The Constitutional Court unanimously (8–0) upheld the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, removing her from office.
• Mar 22The salvage operation to raise the wreck of the Sewol ferry, which sank in 2014, began.
• Mar 31Former president Park Geun-hye was arrested and held at the Seoul Detention Center.

Korea in 2018

The PyeongChang Winter Olympics were held, with the two Koreas marching together at the opening ceremony and fielding a unified women’s ice hockey team. The leaders of the two Koreas met three times, at Panmunjom and in…

• Jan 26A fire at Sejong Hospital in Miryang killed 41 people and injured 153.
• Feb 9The PyeongChang Winter Olympics ran from February 9 to 25; the two Koreas marched together at the opening and fielded a unified women’s ice hockey team.
• Apr 6A court sentenced former president Park Geun-hye to 24 years in prison for bribery and abuse of power.

Korea in 2019

The leaders of the two Koreas and the United States met at Panmunjom, though nuclear talks made little headway, and Japan’s export curbs chilled relations and set off a boycott of Japanese goods. “Parasite” became the f…

• Apr 11The Constitutional Court ruled the abortion ban unconstitutional and ordered the law revised by the end of 2020.
• Jun 30U.S. President Donald Trump met Kim Jong Un at Panmunjom and became the first sitting U.S. president to step onto North Korean soil.
• Jul 1Japan’s trade ministry announced tighter export controls on South Korea, prompting a boycott of Japanese products in Korea.

Historical photo archive

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