2010 in South Korea

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See also:	Years in South Korea Timeline of Korean history 2010 in North Korea

Events in the year 2010 in South Korea.

Incumbents

• President – Lee Myung-bak, President of South Korea (2008–2013)
• Prime Ministers –
  • Chung Un-chan, Prime Minister of South Korea (2009–2010)
  • Yoon Jeung-hyun, Acting Prime Minister of South Korea (2010)
  • Kim Hwang-sik, Prime Minister of South Korea (2010–2013)

Events

January

• January 4 – South Korea is affected by the heaviest snowfall in 70 years, causing widespread disruption.^[1]
• January 9 – The 2010 South Korean Figure Skating Championships are held in Seoul.^[2]

February

• February 25 – The Constitutional Court of Korea rules the death penalty as a constitutional rule that must be preserved.^[3]
• February 26 –
  Kim Yuna becomes the women's single skating world champion at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and sets a new world record with 228.56 points overall.^[4]

• March 2 – The Ministry of Education creates a new teacher evaluation system.
• March 26 – The ROKS Cheonan sinks while carrying 104 personnel off the country's west coast, killing 46.^[5]
• March 30 – One South Korean naval diver is hospitalized and another diver, Han Ju-ho, dies after losing consciousness whilst searching for survivors from the Cheonan.^[6]

April

• April 3 – The South Korean government calls off the rescue operation for the missing Cheonan sailors.
• April 15 – The Cheonan's stern is raised from the seabed and is transported to the
  Pyongtaek navy base for investigation.^[7]
• April 21 – South Korea discovers two North Korean assassins plotting to assassinate Hwang Jang-yop, a senior official who defected from North to South Korea.^[8]
• April 23 – North Korea seizes five properties owned by South Korea in Mount Kumgang.^[9]
• April 24 – The bow portion of the Cheonan is salvaged. The bodies of 40 seamen out of the 46 killed are recovered.
• April 26 – The South Korean government announces the completion of the world's longest seawall in a reclaimed tidal flat in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province.^[10]
• April 27 –
  Oh Eun-Sun becomes the first woman to successfully scale all of the world's 14 highest peaks.^[11]
• April 29 – The deceased sailors of the Cheonan are given a joint funeral.

• May 20 – A South Korean-led investigation carried out by a team of international experts from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Sweden presents a summary of its investigation into the Cheonan sinking, concluding that the warship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired by a midget submarine.[12]
• May 29 – President
  Jeju
  in a trilateral summit to discuss strengthening trade ties and the effects of the Cheonan incident.

June

• June 2 – The 2010 South Korean local elections are held.
• June 2 – The South Korean government announces that it will spend 11.3 billion won (US$9.3 million) until 2013 to support research on key
  3D TV
  technologies.
• June 10 – The second launch of Naro-1 ends in failure after 137 seconds when the rocket explodes and contact is lost.^[13]
• June 22 – The
  2010 World Cup with 4 points, winning 2–0 against Greece,^[14] losing 4–1 to Argentina, and drawing 2–2 with Nigeria
  .

• July 1 – The historical cities of
  Jinhae, merge to create the Unified Changwon City, with a population of 1.04 million.^[15]
• July 9 – The Bank of Korea unexpectedly raises interest rates from 2% to 2.25%.^[16]
• July 26 – South Korea and the United States begin navy and air force maneuvers in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) with intent to "rattle" North Korea.^[17]
• July 28 –
  Grand National Party wins five out of eight seats in National Assembly by-elections.^[18]
• July 29 – Prime Minister Chung Un-chan offers his resignation.^[19]

August

• August 1 – South Korea women's national under-20 football team beats Colombia 1–0 in the third-place match.
• August 9 – North Korea fires over 100 rounds of artillery into the Sea of Japan.^[20]
• August 10 – Chung Un-Chan officially resigns.^[21] The Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan apologizes to South Korea for the colonization of the Korean peninsula in the early 1900s.^[22]
• August 11 –
  Korean Peninsula.^[23]
• August 15 –
  Gwangbokjeol, Restoration work on the Gwanghwamun finishes and is revealed to the public.^[24]
• August 16 – The
  United States armed forces ignore warnings from North Korea, and start a new round of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian drills in South Korea.^[25]

• September 2 –
  Korean Peninsula.^[26]
• September 4 – Yu Myung-hwan resigns as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade amid accusations of nepotism after his daughter is hired to a mid-level position in his Ministry.^[27]
• September 13 – An independent investigation into the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan finds evidence of North Korean involvement, although this claim is disputed.^[28][29]
• September 25 – The 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup gives Korea their first FIFA World Cup title.^[30]
• September 29 –
  Kim Jong-il, is appointed to two party posts in a gradual transfer of power.^[31]

• October 1 – The 2010 Busan fire starts and is extinguished on the same day. No casualties are reported.^[32]
• October 6 – European Union–South Korea Free Trade Agreement
• October 7 – The 15th Busan International Film Festival is held.^[33]
• October 9 –
  Seoul international fireworks festival
  .
• October 23 – In preparation for the
  emerging markets.^[34]
• October 24 – Korean Grand Prix.^[35]
• October 27 – The local by-elections.
• October 30 – Family reunions take place in North Korea between North and South Korean families separated during the Korean War.^[36]

November

• November 1 – The Gyongbu express line is opened at Dongdaegu~Singyongju~Ulsan~Busan.
• November 6 – Somali pirates receive a record £7.6m in ransoms for seized South Korean and Singaporean ships.^[37]
• November 11 – 12 – The
  G-20 summit is held in Seoul, South Korea. Korea became the first non-G8 nation to host a G-20 leaders summit.^[38]
• November 11 – Lotte Corporation gains approval from the government to start construction of the Lotte World Tower in the Songpa District, Seoul, South Korea.^[39]
• November 13 –
  Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma wins the 2010 AFC Champions League
  .
• November 18 – The College Scholastic Ability Test.
• November 18 – A government report finds that the Sunshine Policy adopted by the former government had not resulted in changes to Pyongyang's behavior.
• November 23 – North Korea
  Korean Peninsula and prompts widespread international condemnation. The United Nations declares it to be one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War.^[40][41][42]

• December 2 – More than 55,000 animals are culled after a breakout of foot-and-mouth disease at pig farms in South Korea.[43]
• December 13 – The 8.2 kilometer
  Busan-Geoje Fixed Link
  opens.
• December 18 – A Chinese fishing boat capsizes during a
  Republic of Korea Coast Guard boat, leaving one dead and two missing.^[44]
• December 20 – The Republic of Korea Marine Corps hold live-fire drill exercises on Yeonpyeong Island. North Korea said it will not retaliate.^[45]
• December 25 – Three fishermen from the People's Republic of China are released from South Korean custody.^[46]

Deaths

• February 6 – Lee Yung-dug, 84, South Korean politician, Prime Minister (1994), pneumonia.^[47]
• February 7 –
  cardiac dysrhythmia.^[48]
• March 6 – Cho Gyeong-chul, astronomer, heart attack.
• March 29 – Choi Jin-young, actor and singer, suicide.
• June 30 – Park Yong-ha, 32, actor and singer, suicide.
• August 12 – André Kim, 74, fashion designer, pneumonia and colorectal cancer.
• October 10 – Hwang Jang-yop, politician in North Korea who defected to South Korea, heart attack.
• December 5 – Lee Young-hee, social activist, Cirrhosis.^[49]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2010 in South Korea.

• 2010 in South Korean music

References