SEOUL: On this day in 1994, a catastrophic incident occurred when a section of the Seongsu Grand Bridge, which spans the Han River, collapsed. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of 32 people and injuries to 17 others, with the majority of the victims being students on a bus that plunged into the water below. The incident highlighted significant safety concerns and led to increased scrutiny of infrastructure standards across South Korea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the same day saw a significant diplomatic agreement between North Korea and the United States. The two nations signed a framework agreement aimed at resolving a nuclear dispute. The accord, reached at the North Korean diplomatic mission in Geneva, included provisions for the replacement of North Korea’s graphite-moderated reactors with light-water units. It also paved the way for the normalization of political and economic relations between Washington and Pyongyang, marking a potential shift in the historically tense relations.
In subsequent
years, other notable events on this date include the return of North Korea’s No. 2 leader, Kim Yong-nam, to Pyongyang from a visit to China in 2004. His visit underscored the longstanding friendly relations between the two communist states. Additionally, in 2011, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and his French counterpart, Francois Fillon, agreed to support expanded economic cooperation. This marked the first visit by a sitting French prime minister to Seoul in two decades.
In 2016, the Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA) decided against considering North Korea’s membership in the group, citing international sanctions. Pyongyang had been seeking membership in AASSA since 2014. More recently, in 2021, South Korea launched its first homegrown space launch vehicle, KSLV-II, also known as Nuri, from the Naro Space Center. Although it successfully reached a target altitude of 700 kilometers, it failed to place a 1.5-ton dummy satellite into orbit, marking a partial success
for the country’s burgeoning space program.