◆ Lee Myung-bak elected president Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak was elected president in the 17th presidential election on Dec. 19. His election put an end to 10 years of progressive rule by Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. The conservative candidate won 11.49 million votes (48.7 percent), outdistancing runner-up Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party by a margin of 5.31 million votes - the biggest since direct presidential elections were reintroduced in 1987. In the 13th presidential election, the margin was 1.94 million votes, in the 14th 1.93 million, in the 15th 390,000, and in the 16th 570,000. Lee's landslide victory was voters' expression of anger against the Roh Moo-hyun administration's policy failure over the past five years.

◆ Korea-U.S. FTA The conclusion of the Seoul-Washington free trade agreement was the biggest success in the country's trade diplomacy. The two countries held their first round of talks in Washington in June 2006, meeting for nine rounds of negotiations over 10 months. Debate was sometimes heated, and massive anti-FTA demonstrations were staged. In late March, the two sides extended their final negotiation deadline for 48 hours and agreed on the conclusion of the talks on Apr. 2. They held an additional round of negotiations later and finally signed the agreement on June 30. The key sticking points were removal of tariffs on automobiles and the exclusion of rice from the deal. The FTA awaits ratification by the South Korean National Assembly and the U.S. Congress.

◆ Second inter-Korean summit Roh and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met in Pyongyang on Oct. 2-4. They issued a declaration that envisages economic cooperation projects -- essentially aid to the North -- plus controversially a summit of “the three or four” parties to the armistice that officially still halts hostilities, to declare the Korean War over. It also flags a “peace zone” around the de-facto maritime border in the West Sea. Since then, there has been a flurry of follow-up, including prime ministers' talks and defense ministers' talks in November. But they failed to attract much attention as they were held during the last days of the incumbent government. President-elect Lee Myung-bak said he will “strictly distinguish between right and wrong for each of the inter-Korean projects." The summit had been originally scheduled for August, but was delayed due to flooding in the North.

◆ Fund frenzy and 2,000-point stock index South Koreans were gripped by a "fund frenzy" in which they closed their bank accounts to open fund accounts that promised higher rates of return. As a result, the KOSPI index exceeded the magic marker of 2,000 points. The frenzy also resulted in investors buying overseas funds, including China funds. The amount of funds exceeded W300 trillion (US$1=W941) in total. But whenever issues like the U.S. subprime crisis came up, the stock market became unstable and fluctuated. There were also negative effects from almost all investment going into funds, including banks' increase on home loans interest rates.

◆ The downfall of Roh aides The so-called Shin-gate scandal and a bribery scandal surrounding Roh aide Jeong Yun-jae shook the country. Former chief presidential secretary for national policy Byeon Yang-kyun (58), who rose rapidly in the Roh administration, was put in jail along with his mistress, the curator Shin Jung-ah, accused of abusing his power to help her conceal her forgery of degree certificates and abusing his power to advance her career. He is accused of leaning on conglomerates to make huge donations to institutions where she worked. Jeong, a former protocol secretary to the president, was arrested on charges of taking bribes from local builder Kim Sang-jin in Busan in return for stopping a tax probe. Former National Tax Service commissioner Jeon Gun-pyo was also arrested for allegedly taking W60 million (US$1=941) in kickbacks from Chung Sang-kon, the head of the Busan regional tax service who had taken a bribe from the builder.

◆ Hosting international events Daegu, Incheon, Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province and Yeosu in South Jeolla Province competed with other bidders from around the world to host leading international events. Daegu in March won the bid to host the 2011 World Athletics Championships. In April, Incheon won its bid to host the 2014 Summer Asian Games. Pyeongchang lost to Sochi, Russia in its bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics despite President Roh Moo-hyun's personal attendance at the International Olympic Committee congress in Guatemala in July. However, in its second bid, Yeosu in December won the right to host the 2012 World Expo.

◆ Press rooms nailed down ‘with big nails’ In January, Roh began a new draconian media policy that included the closure of press rooms at government agencies and restricting press access to officials. He accused reporters of “colluding” on how to write up briefings. In a lecture at Wonkwang University on June 8, Roh threatened to “nail the press rooms shut with big nails..." The "big nails" came to symbolize conflict between the government and the press this year. Despite warnings from the International Press Institute, the government drove reporters out of government agencies. Reporters resisted, continuing candlelight vigil to honor the public right to know. Lee has promised to restore the press rooms.

◆ Korean missionaries kidnapped in Afghanistan Twenty-three South Korean evangelical Christians, including 20 members of the Saemmul Church in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province and three missionaries based in Afghanistan were kidnapped by Taliban militants in the war-ravaged country on July 19. Two hostages, the Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min (29), were killed by the Taliban. The remaining 21 were released in late August after some 40 days in captivity, after negotiations between the South Korean government and the Taliban. Many people criticized the aggressive missionary activities in a dangerous, staunchly Islamic country. The international community accused South Korea of setting a bad precedent by striking an under-the-table deal with an international terrorist group.

◆ The worst oil spill in Korean history Around 7 a.m. on Dec. 7, a sea crane collided in stormy weather with a 146,000 ton-class oil tanker in waters five miles northwest of Mallipo beach in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province. As a result, 12,547 ㎘ of crude oil was spilt into the sea. This was the worst oil spill in Korean history, with the amount of oil spilled 2.5 times as much as that from the Sea Prince in 1995. The waves washed the oil slick up on the Taean Peninsula, Boryeong and Seosan, causing damage to some 5,100 hectares of fishing grounds, 15 beaches and 59 islands. The government declared six cities and counties on the west coast a special disaster zone. About 300,000 volunteers rushed from the across the country to clean up the oil slick.

◆ Chaos in education policy High schools across the country were thrown into confusion over the college entrance exam policy for 2008. The Education Ministry asked universities to increase the weighting of students' school records to 50 percent in recruiting new students. But university presidents resisted, arguing that it would be irrational to recruit new students depending on a percentage of school records if the quality of schools varies widely. The university presidents issued a statement and the ministry backed off. They finally agreed to lower the ratio to 30 percent. High school students fiercely resisted the ministry's policy to rate them in bands based on the CSAT scores for school year 2008. This system, where a student with three As, for instance, is ranked higher than one with two As and a B even if the total point score is higher, has been controversial since 2004, when it was first formulated. (englishnews@chosun.com )