| Revision as of 05:10, 27 September 2012 editGenQuest (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers63,602 edits correction to standard order numbering← Previous edit | Revision as of 13:16, 4 October 2012 edit undo1.227.87.226 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
| |religion = ] | |religion = ] | ||
| |death_place = ], ] | |death_place = ], ] | ||
| |nationality = |
|nationality = ]n | ||
| |party = ] (present ] | |party = ] (present ] | ||
| |spouse = ] | |spouse = ] | ||
| Line 36: | Line 36: | ||
| |mrho=Hugwang | |mrho=Hugwang | ||
| |text = ]:<br>{{Nihongo|Toyota Daiju|{{linktext|豊|田|大|中}}}}}} | |text = ]:<br>{{Nihongo|Toyota Daiju|{{linktext|豊|田|大|中}}}}}} | ||
| '''Kim Dae-jung''' (3 December 1925<ref name=BBCobit/> – 18 August 2009<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/node/14302282 | work=The Economist | title=Kim Dae-jung | date=27 August 2009}}</ref>) was 8th ] of the ] from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 ] recipient. He came to be called the "] of Asia"<ref name="reconcilation"/> for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule. | '''Kim Dae-jung''' (3 December 1925<ref name=BBCobit/> – 18 August 2009<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/node/14302282 | work=The Economist | title=Kim Dae-jung | date=27 August 2009}}</ref>) was 8th ] of the ] from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 ] recipient. He came to be called the "] of Asia"<ref name="reconcilation"/> for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule. | ||
Revision as of 13:16, 4 October 2012
| Kim Dae-jung | |
|---|---|
| 김대중 金大中 | |
.png) | |
| 8th President of South Korea | |
| In office 25 February 1998 – 24 February 2003 | |
| Prime Minister | Kim Jong-pil Park Tae-Joon Lee Han-dong Chang Sang Jeon Yun-churl Chang Dae-whan Kim Suk-soo |
| Preceded by | Kim Young-Sam |
| Succeeded by | Roh Moo-hyun |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1925-12-03)3 December 1925 Haui-do, Sinan, Jeollanam-do, Japanese Korea (now Haui-do, South Korea) |
| Died | 18 August 2009(2009-08-18) (aged 83) Seoul, South Korea |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Political party | Millennium Democratic (present Democratic United Party |
| Spouse | Lee Hui-ho |
| Signature |  |
| Nobel Peace Prize (2000) | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김대중 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 金大中 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Daejung |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Taejung |
| Art name | |
| Hangul | 후광 |
| Hanja | 後廣 |
| Revised Romanization | Hugwang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Hugwang |
| Japanese name: Toyota Daiju (豊田大中) | |
Kim Dae-jung (3 December 1925 – 18 August 2009) was 8th President of the Republic of Korea from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He came to be called the "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule.
Early life
Kim was thought to have been born on 6 January 1924, but it is reported that he later changed this to 3 December 1925 to avoid conscription during the time when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. Kim was born in Sinan in what was then the Jeolla province; the city is now in Jeollanam-do. Kim graduated from Mokpo Commercial High School in 1943 at the top of the class. After working as a clerk for a Japanese-owned shipping company during the Japanese occupation of Korea, he became its owner and became very rich. Kim escaped Communist capture during the Korean War.
Kim first entered politics in 1954 during the administration of Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee. Although he was elected as a representative for the National Assembly in 1961, a military coup led by Park Chung-hee, who later assumed dictatorial powers, voided the elections. He was able to win a seat in the House in the subsequent elections in 1963 and 1967 and went on to become an eminent opposition leader. As such, he was the natural opposition candidate for the country's presidential election in 1971. He nearly defeated Park, despite several handicaps on his candidacy which were imposed by the ruling regime.
A very talented orator, Kim could command unwavering loyalty among his supporters. His staunchest support came from the Jeolla region, where he reliably garnered upwards of 95% of the popular vote, a record that has remained unsurpassed in South Korean politics.
Kim was almost killed in August 1973, when he was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo by KCIA agents in response to his criticism of President Park's yushin program, which granted near-dictatorial powers. Years later, Kim reflected on these events during his 2000 Nobel Peace Prize lecture.
"I have lived, and continue to live, in the belief that God is always with me. I know this from experience. In August of 1973, while exiled in Japan, I was kidnapped from my hotel room in Tokyo by intelligence agents of the then military government of South Korea. The news of the incident startled the world. The agents took me to their boat at anchor along the seashore. They tied me up, blinded me, and stuffed my mouth. Just when they were about to throw me overboard, Jesus Christ appeared before me with such clarity. I clung to him and begged him to save me. At that very moment, an airplane came down from the sky to rescue me from the moment of death."
Although Kim returned to Seoul, he was banned from politics and imprisoned in 1976 for having participated in the proclamation of an anti-government manifesto and sentenced for five years in prison, which was reduced to house arrest in 1978. During this period, he was designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
Kim had his political rights restored in 1979 after Park was assassinated. However in 1980, Kim was arrested and sentenced to death on charges of sedition and conspiracy in the wake of another coup by Chun Doo-hwan and a popular uprising in Gwangju, his political stronghold. With the intervention of the United States government, the sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison and later he was given exile to the U.S. Kim temporarily settled in Boston and taught at Harvard University as a visiting professor to the Center for International Affairs, until he chose to return to his homeland in 1985. During his period abroad, he authored a number of opinion pieces in leading Western newspapers that were sharply critical of his government.
Pope John Paul II sent a letter to then-South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan on 11 December 1980, asking for clemency for Kim, a Catholic, who had been sentenced to death a week before. The National Archives of Korea revealed the contents of the letter at the request of the "Kwangju Ilbo," the local daily newspaper in Gwangju (Kwangju).
Road to the presidency
Kim was again put under house arrest upon his return to Seoul, but resumed his role as one of the principal leaders of the opposition. When Chun Doo-hwan succumbed to the popular demand in 1987 and allowed the country's first honest presidential election, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam both ran, despite an initial promise to unite behind one candidate. As a result, the opposition vote was split in two, and ex-general Roh Tae-woo – Chun Doo-hwan's hand-picked successor – won with only 36.5% of the popular vote. Kim Young-sam receiving 28% and Kim Dae-jung 27% of the vote.
In 1992, Kim made yet another failed bid for the presidency, this time solely against Kim Young-sam, who had merged his party with the ruling Democratic Justice Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party (which eventually became the Grand National Party). Many thought Kim Dae-jung's political career was effectively over when he took a hiatus from politics and departed for the United Kingdom to take a position at Clare Hall, Cambridge University as a visiting scholar. However, in 1995 he announced his return to politics and began his fourth quest for the presidency.
The situation became favorable for him when the public revolted against the incumbent government in the wake of the nation's economic collapse in the Asian financial crisis just weeks before the presidential election. Allied with Kim Jong-pil, he defeated Lee Hoi-chang, Kim Young-sam's designated successor, in the election held on 18 December 1997. When he was sworn in as the eighth President of South Korea on 25 February 1998, it marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party peacefully transferred power to a democratically elected opposition victor. The election was marred with controversy, as two candidates from the ruling party split the conservative vote (38.7% and 19.2% respectively), enabling Kim to win with only 40.3% of the popular vote. Kim's chief opponent, Hoi-chang, was a former Supreme Court Justice and had graduated at the top of his class from Seoul National University School of Law. Lee was widely viewed as elitist and his candidacy was further damaged by charges that his sons dodged mandatory military service. Kim's education in contrast was limited to vocational high school, and many Koreans sympathized with the many trials and tribulations that Kim had endured previously.
The preceding presidents Park Chung Hee, Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, and Kim Young-sam originated from the Gyeongsang region, which became wealthier since 1945 partly due to the policies of the Park, Chun and Roh's regimes. Kim Dae-jung was the first president to serve out his full term who came from the Jeolla region in the southwest, an area that had been neglected and less developed, at least partly because of discriminatory policies of previous presidents. Kim's administration included more individuals from the Jeolla province, leading to charges of reverse discrimination. However, the actual numbers of the ministers and administrators of Kim Dae Jung's government from Jeolla region indicate that they were not over-represented.
Presidency
Economic achievements
Kim Dae-jung took office in the midst of the economic crisis that hit South Korea in the final year of Kim Young-sam's term. He vigorously pushed economic reform and restructuring recommended by the International Monetary Fund, in the process significantly altering the landscape of South Korean economy. After the economy shrank by 5.8 percent in 1998, it grew 10.2 percent in 1999. In effect, his policies were to make for a fairer market by holding the powerful chaebol (conglomerates) accountable, e.g., greater transparency in accounting practices. State subsidies to large corporations were dramatically cut or dropped.
North Korea policy
His policy of engagement with North Korea has been termed the Sunshine Policy. He moved to begin détente with the communist regime in North Korea, which culminated in a historic summit meeting in 2000 in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. This began a now decade-old process of frustrating, but continuing, direct contact with Pyongyang. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for these efforts. However, the historic event was tainted significantly by revelations that at least several hundred million dollars had been paid to Pyongyang. His Chief of Staff, Park Ji-Won, was sentenced to twelve years in prison in 2003 for, among other charges, his role in the Hyundai payment to North Korea for the North–South summit. The effect of the Sunshine Policy was questioned by the US newspaper The Village Voice, which cited the money transfers and the coverup of atrocities in the North.
Relationship with former Presidents
After Kim achieved the presidency and moved into the Blue House, there was uncertainty and considerable speculation about how he would handle the office. He had been sentenced to death by Chun Doo Hwan. Chun and his successor Roe Tae Woo had been sentenced by Kim Dae Jung's predecessor President Kim Young Sam. Kim Dae Jung pardoned Chun.
Summary
During his presidency, he introduced South Korea's contemporary welfare state, successfully shepherded South Korea's economic recovery, brought in a new era of economic transparency and fostered a greater role of South Korea in the world stage, including the FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by Korea and Japan in 2002. Kim completed his 5-year presidential term in 2002 and was succeeded by Roh Moo-hyun. A presidential library at Yonsei University was built to preserve Kim's legacy, and there is a convention center named after him in the city of Gwangju, the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center.
Post-presidency
Kim called for restraint against the North Koreans for detonating a nuclear weapon and defended the continued Sunshine Policy towards Pyongyang to defuse the crisis. He also received an honorary doctorate at the University of Portland on 17 April 2008 where he delivered his speech, "Challenge, Response, and God."
The Wikileaks data reveals that the US Embassy in Seoul described Kim as "South Korea's first left-wing president" to the American government on his day of death.
Death
Kim died on 18 August 2009 at 13:43 KST, at Severance Hospital of Yonsei University in Seoul. The cause of death was given as multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. An interfaith state funeral was held for former President Kim Dae-jung on 23 August 2009 in front of the National Assembly Building, with a procession leading to the Seoul National Cemetery where he was interred according to Catholic traditions. Former President Kim was the third person in modern South Korean history to be given a State Funeral after Park Chung-hee.
See also
References
- ^ Obituary: Kim Dae-jung." BBC News. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
- "Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung Dies at 85". Jakarta Globe. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- "Kim Dae-jung". The Economist. 27 August 2009.
- ^ "Kim Dae-jung: Dedicated to reconciliation". CNN. 14 June 2001. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ "Kim Dae Jung". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ^ "Kim Dae-jung – Biography". The Nobel Foundation. 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- "Kim Dae-jung – Nobel Lecture". The Nobel Foundation. 2000. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
- "Kim Dae-jung, human rights champion and former South Korean president, dies". Amnesty International. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- Choe, Sang-hun (18 August 2009). "Kim Dae-jung, 83, Ex-President of South Korea, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- In the early 1980s Kim described this "intervention" at an Annual General Meeting of Amnesty International-USA. He was bound and naked, on the floor of a room with other dissidents awaiting helicopter rides out over the Sea of Japan where they would "disappear." An US embassy official walked in, pointed to him, and said "Him, not yet."
- ^ "Board of Advisors – Kim Dae-jung". The Oxford Council on Good Governance. undated. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "John Paul II's appeal saved future Korean president from death sentence". Catholic News Agency. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- "Opposition boycott shadows South Korea's new president". CNN. 25 February 1998. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- "1997 South Korean Presidential Election". University of California, Los Angeles – Center for East Asian Studies. 1998.
- Ginsburg, Tom (2004). Legal Reform in Korea. Psychology Press. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- Cathy Hong (18 November 2003). "Fine Young Communists". The Village Voice. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- Takegawa, Shogo (December 2005). "Japan's Welfare State Regime: Welfare Politics, Provider and Regulator" (PDF). Development and Society. 34 (2): 169–190. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - Muthu, Rajendran (2006). "Social Development in Japan: A Focus on Social Welfare Issues" (PDF). Journal of Societal & Social Policy. 5 (1): 1–20. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- Sunny Lee (7 May 2008). "South Korea's Sunshine policy strikes back". Asia Times Online. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
- Lee (이), Seong-gi (성기) (2011-09-06). ""DJ, 좌파 첫 대통령" 위키리크스 외교전문". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- "Former S. Korean President Kim Dae-Jung Dies". The Seoul Times. 18 August 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- Barbara Demick (19 August 2009). "Kim Dae-jung dies at 85; former South Korean president and Nobel laureate". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
External links
- Official Nobel page for Kim
- Kim Dae-jung Presidential Library
- Bill McKern (August 18, 2009). "Kim Dae-jung". South Korean President. Find a Grave. Retrieved Aug 19, 2011.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byKim Young-sam | President of South Korea 1998–2003 |
Succeeded byRoh Moo-hyun |
| Presidents of South Korea (List) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Provisional Governments (Pre-Union) (1919) | Syngman Rhee (Seoul) • Syngman Rhee (Shanghai) • Yi Dong-nyeong (Shanghai) • Ahn Chang Ho (Shanghai) • Yi Dong-hwi (Shanghai) • Moon Chang-bum (Vladivostok) |   |
| Provisional Government (1919–1948) | Syngman Rhee‡ • Yi Dong-nyeong • Park Eun-sik • Lee Yu-pil • Yi Sang-ryong • Yang Gi-tak • Yi Dong-nyeong • Ahn Chang Ho • Yi Dong-nyeong • Hong Jin • Kim Ku • Yi Dong-nyeong • Song Byung-jo • Yi Dong-nyeong • Kim Ku • Syngman Rhee | |
| First Republic (1948–1960) | Syngman Rhee • Ho Chong | |
| Second Republic (1960–1961) | Kwak Sang-hoon • Ho Chong • Baek Nak-jun • Yun Po-sun | |
| Military Junta (1961–1963) | Park Chung Hee | |
| Third Republic (1963–1972) | Park Chung Hee | |
| Fourth Republic (1972–1981) | Park Chung Hee • Choi Kyu-hah • Park Choong-hoon • Chun Doo-hwan | |
| Fifth Republic (1981–1988) | Chun Doo-hwan | |
| Sixth Republic (1988–present) | Roh Tae-woo • Kim Young-sam • Kim Dae-jung • Roh Moo-hyun† • Goh Kun • Lee Myung-bak • Park Geun-hye‡ • Hwang Kyo-ahn • Moon Jae-in • Yoon Suk Yeol‡ • Han Duck-soo‡ • Choi Sang-mok | |
| Italics indicate an acting president • † Impeached, but restored to office • ‡ Impeached and removed from office | ||
- 1925 births
- 2009 deaths
- Amnesty International prisoners of conscience
- Attempted assassination survivors
- Converts to Roman Catholicism
- Deaths from multiple organ failure
- Democratic Party (South Korea, 2005) politicians
- Disease-related deaths in South Korea
- Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge
- Honorary Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge
- Kidnapped politicians
- Kidnapped South Korean people
- Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Nobel Peace Prize laureates
- South Korean democracy activists
- People from South Jeolla Province
- Presidents of South Korea
- South Korean Nobel laureates
- South Korean Roman Catholics
- 20th-century Roman Catholics
- 21st-century Roman Catholics