Today in Korean history

Oct. 17

1972 -- President Park Chung-hee declares martial law nationwide and dissolves
the National Assembly. The following month, the government introduced a new
constitution, known as the "Yushin" (Revitalizing Reform) Constitution, which
greatly expanded presidential powers and allowed Park to remain in office
indefinitely. Park stayed in power until he was assassinated in 1979.

1974 -- A fire rips through a hotel in downtown Seoul, killing 19 people.

1978 -- An underground tunnel dug by North Korea is discovered near the
inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom. The tunnel, the third of its kind to be
found in South Korea, was made as part of the North's efforts to prepare for an
invasion of the South.

1985 -- Chang Sae-dong, chief of the Agency for National Security Planning, and
Park Chul-un, an aide to President Chun Doo-hwan, secretly meet with North Korean
leader Kim Il-sung to propose a South-North summit. The two sides failed to
produce an agreement.

1991 -- South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Estonia.

1999 -- Choi Yo-sam wins the WBC light flyweight championship.

2007 -- The government earmarks 1.5 billion won (US$1.2 million) to help hundreds
of ethnic Koreans in Japan facing eviction buy disputed land in their rural
community. Their ancestors had been interned as laborers to Utoro, a small
village in Kyoto Prefecture, to build military installations during the war.
Japanese courts denied their right to the property, making the Utoro case one of
Japan's longest-running legal disputes.