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2025 in South Korea

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The following lists events in the year 2025 in South Korea.

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Events

January

  • 1 January – A day after Acting President Choi Sang-mok appointed two justices to the Constitutional Court, the chiefs of Office of the President, the policy office, the Office of National Security, the special adviser for foreign affairs and security, and the senior secretary express their intentions to resign to Choi.[1]
  • 3 January – Yoon Suk Yeol residence standoff: Investigators face a standoff with the Presidential Security Service outside the presidential residence after failing to execute a warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed martial law attempt.[2]
  • 4 January – A fishing boat sinks after hitting rocks off the coast of Gageodo, killing three people on board.[3]
  • 8 January – Former Democratic Party of Korea leader Song Young-gil is sentenced to two years' imprisonment for accepting illegal political funding from seven businesspeople.[4]
  • 10 January – Park Chong-jun resigns as head of the Presidential Security Service amid an investigation into the agency's role in obstructing President Yoon's arrest on 3 January.[5]
  • 14 January –
  • 15 January – Arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol: Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the first sitting president of South Korea to be arrested following his imposition of martial law in December.[8]
  • 17 January – South Korea opens an embassy in Cuba for the first time.[9]
  • 18 January – 2025 Seoul Western District Court riot: Supporters of Yoon Suk Yeol storm the Seoul Western District Court after the latter extends his detention.[10]
  • 21 January – A civilian employee of the Korea Defense Intelligence Command is sentenced by a court-martial to 20 years' imprisonment for providing information on undercover South Korean military agents to a suspected Chinese agent in return for 400 million won.[11]
  • 22 January – The government announces a reduction in subsidies to biomass enterprises and an end to supporting the construction of new biomass plants amid criticism over its impact on deforestation.[12]
  • 23 January –
    • The Constitutional Court votes 4-4 to reject the impeachment of Korea Communications Commission chair Lee Jin-sook, who had been impeached by the National Assembly on 2 August 2024 for administrative abuses.[13]
    • Three people, including a Filipino-Canadian national, are arrested for processing and attempting to sell 61 kilograms of cocaine valued at 30 billion won ($24 million) from a warehouse in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, in what is described as the largest cocaine-related crime in South Korea.[14]
    • The National Bio Committee, an advisory committee directly under the President, is launched.[15]
  • 24 January – The government issues revisions to the Wildlife Protection and Management Act that include a ban on bear farming and feeding feral pigeons and other animals considered pests.[16]
  • 26 January – Yoon Suk Yeol becomes the first sitting president of South Korea to be indicted following his imposition of martial law in December, with charges of insurrection and abuse of power being filed against him.[17]
  • 28 January – Air Busan Flight 391: An Airbus A321-200 operated by Air Busan catches fire before takeoff at Gimhae International Airport, resulting in seven injuries and the evacuation of all 176 people on board.[18]

February

  • 1 February –
    • Two fishing vessels run aground off the coast of Jeju Island, killing two people and leaving two others missing.[19]
    • A fire breaks out at the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul, injuring one firefighter. No damage is recorded to the museum's collection.[20]
  • 4 February – The Seoul High Court overturns the conviction of former Ulsan mayor Song Cheol-ho and former city police chief Hwang Un-ha for election interference over a conspiracy to engineer an investigation against a rival during the 2018 South Korean local elections.[21]
  • 7–14 February – South Korea at the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China:[22] South Korea concludes its participation at the competition with 16 gold medals.[23]
  • 7 February – A magnitude 3.1 earthquake hits Yangseong-myeon, 22 kilometers northwest of Chungju, North Chungcheong Province.[24]
  • 9 February – A fishing vessel sinks off the coast of Habaek Island near Yeosu, killing four people and leaving five others missing.[25]
  • 10 February –
    • One person is killed in the explosion of an oil storage tank in Ulsan.[26]
    • An eight-year old girl is fatally stabbed at an elementary school in Daejeon, with a teacher confessing to the killing.[27]
  • 12 February – A fishing vessel capsizes off the coast of Jeju Island, leaving five crew members missing.[28]
  • 13 February – A fishing vessel catches fire off the coast of Buan County, leaving six crew members missing.[29]
  • 14 February –
    • Footballer Hwang Ui-jo is sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence for secretly filming sexual encounters with three different women.[30]
    • Six people are killed in a fire at an under-construction resort in Busan.[31]
    • A man is arrested for attempting to storm the Chinese embassy in Seoul to carry out an attack.[32]
  • 16 February – Actress Kim Sae-ron is found dead in her home in Seoul in what police rule to be a suicide.[33][34]
  • 17 February – The government suspends the local service of the Chinese artificial intelligence application DeepSeek, citing data collection concerns.[35]
  • 19 February –
  • 20 February – The criminal trial of Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration begins in Seoul, making him the first incumbent president of South Korea to stand trial in a criminal case.[40]
  • 25 February –
  • 26 February –
    • A man is shot dead by police in Gwangju after stabbing an officer.[43]
    • Hyundai Rotem wins a 2.2 trillion-won (US$1.53 billion) contract to supply advanced trains to the Moroccan national railway operator ONCF.[44]
  • 27 February –
    • The Constitutional Court rules that acting President Choi Sang-mok's decision to withhold the appointment of Ma Eun-hyuk as a justice in the Constitutional Court violated the National Assembly's right to elect a justice to the court but dismisses a petition to have Ma appointed immediately.[45]
    • The Ministry of Unification dismisses Cho Min-ho as president of the Korea Hana Foundation supporting North Korean defectors amid allegations of him sexually and verbally harassing employees.[46]

March

April

  • 2 April – Authorities announce the seizure of two tons of cocaine valued at 1 trillion won (US$679.6 million) from a Norwegian-flagged vessel that arrived at Gangneung from Mexico via Ecuador, Panama and China, in what is deemed the biggest drug bust in terms of weight in South Korea by the Korea Customs Service.[68]
  • 2 April –
  • 4 April – The Constitutional Court unanimously upholds the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, leading to his immediate removal as president.[71]
  • 6 April – 2025 South Korea wildfires: A firefighting helicopter crashes in Daegu, killing the pilot.[72]
  • 8 April –
    • A group of North Korean soldiers enter the South Korean side of the eastern section of the DMZ, prompting warning shots from South Korean forces that force them to retreat.[73]
    • The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announces the approval for usage of Barythrax, a vaccine for anthrax that was produced in collaboration with GC Pharma and is deemed the first genetically engineered anthrax vaccine in history.[74]
  • 10 April –
  • 11 April –
  • 15 April – Five members of the same family are found murdered in an apartment in Yongin.[79]
  • 18 April – A KA-1 light attack aircraft of the Republic of Korea Air Force accidentally jettisons its gun pods and fuel tanks during exercises over Pyeongchang, Gangwon.[80]
  • 21 April – An apartment building in Gwanak-gu, Seoul is burned, killing the suspect and injuring six.[81]
  • 22 April – One person is killed and another is injured in a knife attack at a supermarket near Mia station in Seoul. A suspect is arrested.[82]
  • 24 April – Former president Moon Jae-in is indicted for corruption over allegations that he had facilitated the employment of his former son-in-law at Eastar Jet, in exchange for the airline's founder, Lee Sang-jik, being appointed as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency.[83]
  • 28 April – Six people are injured in a knife attack carried out by a student inside a high school in Cheongju.[84]

May

  • 1 May –
    • The Supreme Court overturns the acquittal of Lee Jae-myung for perjury and sends the case back to the Seoul High Court.[85]
    • Han Duck-soo resigns as acting president and prime minister.[86] He declares his candidacy for president the next day.[87]
    • Choi Sang-mok resigns as finance minister minutes before a scheduled vote in the National Assembly on whether to impeach him.[88]
  • 2 May – Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Lee Ju-ho assumes the role of acting president.[89]
  • 4 May – Two workers are killed after inhaling toxic gases at a paper mill in Jeonju.[90]
  • 6 May – At least three people are injured in a knife attack in Bongcheon-dong, Seoul. The suspect is arrested.[91]
  • 7 May – Philosopher Byung-Chul Han is awarded the Princess of Asturias Awards for his writings on the ills of digital technology and contemporary capitalism.[92]
  • 11 May – Han Duck-soo ends his presidential campaign following a failed attempt to make him the official candidate of the People Power Party despite the previous nomination of Kim Moon-soo.[93]
  • 15 May – Academician Choi Jung-wha becomes the first Korean woman to be awarded the Officier grade of the French Legion of Honour for her contributions towards promoting France-South Korea relations.[94]
  • 17 May – A massive fire breaks out a manufacturing plant of Kumho Tire in Gwangju, triggering a nationwide firefighting mobilization order.[95]
  • 19 May – Two people are killed while two others are injured in a stabbing spree in Siheung.[96]
  • 22 May – Four people, including the perpetrator and three police officers, are injured in a knife attack in Paju.[97]
  • 27 May – Former acting presidents Han Duck-soo and Choi Sang-mok are barred from leaving the country as part of criminal investigations into Yoon Suk Yeol's insurrection case relating to his martial law declaration.[98]
  • 28 May – A strike is held by the Busan bus drivers' union demanding a wage increase, causing transport disruptions in the city until an agreement is reached in the afternoon.[99]
  • 29 May – A Lockheed P-3 Orion patrol aircraft of the Republic of Korea Navy crashes during a training flight in Pohang, killing all four on board.[100]
  • 31 May – A man is arrested following an arson attack inside a Seoul Metropolitan Subway train traveling between Yeouinaru and Mapo stations.[101]

June

July

August

Scheduled events

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Holidays

Further information: Public holidays in South Korea

As per Presidential Decree No. 28394, 2017. 10. 17., partially amended, the following days are declared holidays in South Korea:[139][140]

Art and entertainment

Deaths

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See also

Country overviews

References

External links

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