Photos Highlight 50-Year State History

Photos Highlight 50-Year State History
-On Occasion of Golden Jubilee of DPRK-

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will mark its 50^thbirthday on Sep.9. On the occasion, the PK looks back on the state’s half-century history with memorable photos and a brief chronological table.

Chronological Table of DPRK History

1945

Aug. 15: Liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

Oct. 10: Founding of the North Korean Communist Party.

Oct. 14: Declaration by General Kim Il Sung to the nation and the world at a Pyongyang city mass rally of his triumphant return to his homeland.

1945, November - 1946, January: Formation of the North Korean Democratic Women’s Union (1945, November 18); formation of the North Korean General Federation of Trade Unions (1945, November 30); formation of the North Korean Democratic Youth League (1946, January 17); formation of the North Korean Peasant Union (1946, January 31)

1946

Feb. 8: Establishment of the North Korean Provisional People’s Committee with General Kim as its head.

March 5: Proclamation of Land Reform Law.

June 24: Labor Law was proclaimed.

July 22: Foundation of the North Korean United Democratic National Front.

July 30: Law on the Equality of the Sexes was proclaimed.

Aug. 10: Law on the Nationalization of Major Industries was proclaimed.

Aug.28-30: Founding of the North Korean Workers’ Party; decision to publish “Rodong Sinmun” and “Kunroja,” organ and journal of the party.

Oct. 10: Foundation of Kim Il Sung University.

Nov. 23: Founding of the South Korean Workers’ Party.

1947

Pyongyangites welcome formation of the North Korean People’s Committee in 1947.

Feb. 22: Organization of North Korean People’s Committee ; Gen. Kim elected as Head of State.

1948

The Pyongyang Mass Rally blessing the foundation of the DPRK in September 1948.

March 27-30: Second Congress of the North Korean Workers’ Party.

Apr. 19-23: Joint Conference of the Representatives of Political Parties and Social Organizations in North and South Korea.

Aug. 25: Elections of deputies to the Supreme People’s Assembly conducted in the north and south of Korea.

Sept. 2: The first SPA Conference.

Sept. 9: Foundation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, with Gen. Kim elected Head of State.

Dec. 26: Withdrawal of all the Soviet forces stationed in the northern half of Korea completed.

1949

Korean bank notes.

June 25: Organization of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.

June 30: Merger of North and South Korean Workers’ Parties; General Kim was elected Chairman.

1950

June 25: Outbreak of the Korean war.

Sept.15: U.N. Forces’ landing on Inchon.

Oct. 25: Chinese volunteer forces’ participation in the war.

1953

The negotiators meet shortly before signing the prisoner exchange agreement on the 1950-1953 Korean war. General Nam Il of the DPRK (standing at right) is to face U.N. General William K. Harrison (sitting at left).

Jan. 1: A free-medical care system was implemented.

Feb. 7: The title of “Marshal” was given Gen. Kim by the SPA.

July 27: Armistice in the Korean war.

1955

May 25: Foundation of Chongryun (The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan).

1956

In the period following the Korean war which reduced everything to ashes, Korean workers vigorously promote reconstruction works.

Apr. 23-29: The Third WPK Congress.

Aug. 1: System of universal compulsory elementary education was introduced.

Dec. 11-13: December Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party. Start of Chullima Movement, a　general line of the WPK for socialist construction proposed by Marshal Kim.

1957

Apr. 8: The first educational aid fund and stipends (121,099,086 yen) was sent to Korean school children in Japan.

Aug. 27: The second SPA election.

1958

August: Completion of cooperatization of agriculture and socialist reorganization of private trade and industry.

Oct. 26: Withdrawal of Chinese volunteer forces from Korea was completed.

Oct. 2: Proclamation of the law on enforcing universal compulsory secondary education and preparing a compulsory technical education system.

1959

Feb. 16: Cabinet Decision No. 16 on Accepting Koreans in Japan who wished for repatriation to their fatherland.

Dec. 14. The first repatriation ship left from Niigata, Japan to Chongjin.

1960

Apr. 19: A mass uprising of south Korean people against the fascist rule of the Syngman Rhee regime.

1961

May 13: Formation of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

July 6: The DPRK-Soviet Union agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.

July 11: The DPRK-Chinese agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.

Sept. 6-18: The Fourth WPK Congress.

1962

June 5: The DPRK Olympic Committee joined the IOC.

Oct. 8: The third SPA election.

1966

Scene from a DPRK-Italy match at the 1966 8th World Cup in London. North Koreans’ victory in the game (1-0) made the DPRK the first and sole Asian country to advance to the quarterfinals at the world’s prestigious soccer competition.

July: The DPRK national soccer team advanced to a quarterfinal at the 8th World Cup (London) by defeating Italy with a score of 1-0.

Oct. 5-12: The WPK elected Marshal Kim the party’s General Secretary.

Nov. 22: Proclamation of the law on enforcing nine-year universal compulsory technical education.

1967

Nov. 25: The fourth SPA election.

1968

The U.S. spy ship “Pueblo” which was captured by the KPA Navy after intruding into the north Korean territory in 1968, is now on display at Wonsan Bay in the East Sea of Korea.

Jan. 23: The KPA (Korean People’s Army) Navy captured the Pueblo, an American spy ship, which intruded into Korean territory.

1969

The KPA shot down an American intruder reconnaissance plane EC-121.

1970

Nov. 2-13: The Fifth WPK Congress.

1972

July 4: The North-South Joint Statement was declared in Pyongyang and Seoul.

Aug. 26: Mr. Ri Ho Jun carried off a gold medal with a world record in a shooting competition at the Munich Olympic Games.

Dec. 25: The Proclamation of the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK. Premier Kim Il Sung was elected State President.

1973

Sept. 5: Pyongyang subway routes opened to service.

1974

The 4th session of the 5th Supreme People’s Assembly was held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall from Nov. 27 to 30, 1974.

Apr. 1: The tax on the people was completely abolished.

1975

Aug. 25: The country became a member of the NAM (Non-aligned Movement).

Sept. 15: An eleven-year universal compulsory education system was introduced.

1976

July 17: Ku Yon Jo won a gold in the 54-kg class boxing competition at the Montreal Olympics.

Aug. 18: An incident involving north Korean and American soldiers occurred at Panmunjom.

1977

March 26: Pak Yong Sun, title holder of the 33rd World Table Tennis Championships, won women’s single title at the 34th championships in Birmingham, England.

Aug. 1: The Supreme Command of the KPA established a military boundary up to 50 miles from the start line of the territorial waters in the East Sea and to the boundary line of the economic sea zone in the West Sea.

1978

Apr. 9: The inaugural meeting of the International Study Institute of Juche Idea was held in Tokyo.

Sept. 2: The opening to service of the Pyongyang-Wonsan Highway.

1979

Apr. 25-May 6: The 35th World Table Tennis Championships were hosted by the DPRK in Pyongyang.

1980

May 19: The Kwangju Popular Uprising against the Chun Du Hwan junta in south Korea.

Oct. 10-14: The Sixth WPK Congress.

1982

Feb. 28: The seventh SPA election

Apr. 14: Ceremony was held to mark the completion of historical monuments such as Tower of Juche, Kim Il Sung Stadium, the Arch of Triumph and the Grand People’s Study House on the occasion of the 70th birthday of President Kim Il Sung.

1984

Trucks carrying relief rice for south Korean flood victims left Kaesong in the north and arrived in Paju, Kyongi Province in the south, crossing the Military Demarcation Line on Sep. 29, 1984. In that year, the DPRK Red Cross sent medicine, 50,000 sok of rice, 500,000 metres of textiles, 100,000 tons of cement as relief goods to the sufferers in Seoul and other flood-hit areas.

Sept. 8: The SPA Standing Committee adopted a joint venture law.

Sept. 29: The DPRK government sent relief goods to south Korean flood victims.

1985

A man from Seoul (center) bursts into tears when he met his first and second sons for the first time in 35 years in Pyongyang. The simultaneous exchange of hometown visitors was realized on Sept. 20-23, 1985, in accordance with an N-S agreement. In Seoul, 30 members of north Korean separated families met their kith and kin while 35 hometown visitors from Seoul met their relatives in Pyongyang.

Sept. 20: Separated Korean families made a reunion with relatives through their Pyongyang and Seoul visits.

1986

Nov. 2: The eighth SPA election.

1989

A highlight scene of the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students which was held in Pyongyang from July 1 to 8, 1989 attended by tens of thousands of youth and students from 179 countries and regions.

March 25: South Korean dissident leader Reverend Moon Ik Hwan made a DPRK trip to meet with President Kim Il Sung, to discuss the national reunification issue.

Apr. 20: Opening of the Korean Joint Venture Bank.

July 1-8: The DPRK hosted the 13th World Festival for Youth and Students.

　

1990

Apr. 22: The ninth SPA election.

Sept. 28: Joint declaration for better Korea-Japan relations issued by the WPK, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party of Japan.

May 28: The DPRK returned the remains of five U.S. soldiers for the first time in 36 years since the country returned the remains of 4,023 soldiers in 1954.

Oct. 11: The first inter-Korean soccer exchange in Pyongyang.

Oct. 23: The second inter-Korean soccer exchange in Seoul.

1991

The first-ever unified Korean women’s table tennis team stands on the winner’s podium at the 41st World Table Tennis Championships held in Japan, putting an end to China’s long-standing table tennis domination (Mar. 29, 1991).

Apr. 24: A unified Korean table tennis team seized a group title at the 41st World Table Tennis Championships held in Japan.

June 14: A unified Korean soccer team which participated in the 6th World Youth Soccer Championships in Portugal, advanced to a quarterfinal.

Sept. 17: North and South Korea separately and simultaneously acquired U.N. membership.

Dec. 13: The N-S agreement on cooperation, non-aggression, cooperation and exchange was adopted.

Dec. 28: The Rajin-Sonbong economic trade zone was established.

1992

The first DPRK-U.S. high-level talks were held in New York.

February: Opening of a direct air route between the DPRK and Japan.

Apr. 12: Opening of the Pyongyang-Kaeson Highway.

1993

March 12: The DPRK announced that it would withdraw from the NPT.

March 19: Ri In Mo, a long-term north Korean war prisoner detained in south Korea, returned to his hometown in the north.

Apr. 7: The 5th session of the 9th KPA nominated Marshal Kim Jong Il as Chairman of the National Defense Commission.

1994

Koreans weep before the bier of the late President Kim Il Sung at the Kumsusan Assembly Hall.

June 15: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited the DPRK, and reached an agreement with President Kim Il Sung to settle Korea’s nuclear issue.

July 8: President Kim Il Sung passed away.

Oct. 11: North Korea held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the reconstruction of the tomb of King Tangun, father of the Korean nation.

1995

A scene of a pro-wrestling match between Antonio Inoki from Japan and Ric Flair from the U.S. as an event during the 1995 Pyongyang Sports and Cultural Festival.

Jan. 25: General Kim Jong Il sent $1 million in consolation money to Korean victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Japan (Jan. 17).

June 12: The DPRK decided to preserve President Kim’s body in an eternal state.

Apr. 29-30: The Pyongyang International Sports and Cultural Festival for Peace was held with various musical and sports events, attracting about 10,000 tourists. Hounarable guests included former heavy-weight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.

The Unpa village destroyed by the 1996 typhoon and flood.

August: The DPRK announced that unprecedented typhoon and torrential rains which hit the Korean Peninsula that summer, caused property damage estimated of $15 billion, and that some 5,200,000 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.

Oct. 12: Opening of the Pyongyang-Hyangsan Tourist Road.

1996

More than 550 delegates from 110 companies in 26 countries participate in the Rajin-Sonbong Zone International Investment and Business Forum which was held from Sept. 13 to 15, 1996.

Apr. 3-9: Kim Myong Nam shattered three world records in the men’s 70-kg title at the 28th Asia Weightlifting Championships held in Japan.

July 26: Kye Sun Hui brought a gold medal to the DPRK winning in the women’s 48kg-class Judo competition at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

Sept. 13-15: The DPRK succeeded in concluding $840 million worth foreign investment agreements at an international forum held in the Rajin-Sonbong area.

　

1997

July 8: The DPRK announced it ended the time-honored three-year mourning period for the late President Kim.

Aug.19: The KEDO performed a ceremony to mark the start of construction work on two light water reactors in the Kumho area of Sinpo on the East Coast of the DPRK.

Oct.8: A special communique of the WPK Central Committee and the Central Military Commission declared that Kim Jong Il has been elected WPK General Secretary.

1998

Apr. 24-25: About 60,000 people who are concerned about the threat of famine in the DPRK, participated in the “international fasting day” for north Koreans, held in a total of 107 cities in 35 countries.

May 28-29: The DPRK unveiled $2 billion agricultural recovery plan at the U.N. in Geneva.

June 16-23: Hyundai honorary chairman Chong Ju Yong visited the DPRK and reached an agreement with a north Korean business group on economic cooperation.

July 26: The 10th SPA election.

Sept. 5: The 4th session of the 10th SPA.

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