Today in Korean history

May 16 1973 -- North Korea joins the World Health Organization. South Korea became a member in 1949. 1980 -- The military government of Chun Doo-hwan expands its use of emergency martial law nationwide and arrests two leading opposition leaders, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil, on charges of rebellion, conspiracy and illegal profiteering. 2005 -- South Korea promises to make a new "important" proposal to help resolve the growing tension over North Korea's nuclear weapons program if the communist country returns to dialogue. 2006 -- South Korea signs a free trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to cut trade barriers on merchandise. Thailand, however, was excluded from the accord due to disagreements over agricultural goods and the country's political crisis. 2007 -- Two South Korean fishing boats and their 24 crew members, including four South Koreans, are captured by a group of insurgents believed to be Somali pirates in waters off Somalia. They were freed in November. 2008 -- Patrol boats from South Korea and Japan confront each other over an alleged violation of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone by a Korean fishing boat. The standoff ended a few hours later after Japan conceded that the Korean boat did not violate its waters. 2013 -- The Supreme Court sentences a 45-year-old man to 3 1/2 years in prison for forcing his wife to have sex with him, recognizing marital rape as a crime for the first time. Spousal rape had not been treated as a crime in South Korea since the Supreme Court ruled so in the 1970s.(END)