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 Pyongyang, and the first-ever U.S.–North Korea summit took place. BTS became the first Korean act to top the Billboard 200.
The year in Korea
Jan 26A fire at Sejong Hospital in Miryang killed 41 people and injured 153. [Source]
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. [Source]
Apr 6A court sentenced former president Park Geun-hye to 24 years in prison for bribery and abuse of power. [Source]
Apr 27President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un held a summit on the South Korean side of Panmunjom and issued the Panmunjom Declaration. [Source]
May 26The two Korean leaders held their second summit, this time on the North Korean side of Panmunjom. [Source]
Jun 13The 7th nationwide local elections were held together with National Assembly by-elections. [Source]
Sep 18Moon Jae-in visited Pyongyang from September 18 to 20 for the third inter-Korean summit and climbed Mount Paektu with Kim Jong Un. [Source]
Jun 12U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un held the first-ever U.S.–North Korea summit in Singapore. [Source]
Songs, shows & trends
Music
BTS – “Love Yourself: Tear” — In May it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the first K-pop album to top the chart. [Source]
IZ*ONE debuts — The 12-member Korean–Japanese group formed through “Produce 48” debuted on October 29. [Source]
TV drama
tvN – “Mr. Sunshine” — Set in Hanseong in the early 1900s, the story of independence fighters aired from July and also streamed on Netflix. [Source]
JTBC – “Sky Castle” — A satire of elite families’ college-admission obsession that premiered on November 23 and set a cable TV ratings record at the time. [Source]
Year League: the best year
Sources
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2010s · The Global Korean Wave and the Candlelight Protests
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