Kim Dae-jung revered for lifelong struggle for peace, democracy

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who died
on Tuesday at age 85, was known as a man who could forge success out of
unyielding challenges.

Kim served as president from 1998 to 2003, and was respected for his vehement
opposition to the nation's authoritarian rulers in the 1970s and 80s.
South Korea's only Nobel laureate, he endured abduction, torture and multiple
arrests while pushing forward the pro-democracy movement.
Kim was the first South Korean leader to shake hands with North Korea's head of
state, a sign of reconciliation after nearly 50 years of bitter ties, and a dream
he later watched come undone.
Kim was born to a middle-class farming family on Jan. 6, 1924, on a small island
in South Jeolla Province, when Korea was still under Japanese colonial rule. His
family moved to the nearby port city of Mokpo, where Kim completed high school.
Before he entered politics, Kim worked for a Japanese-owned shipping company and
later opened his own shipping business, which turned out to be quite successful.
But as Syngman Rhee, South Korea's first president, began to steer the country
towards authoritarianism, Kim developed a resolve to fight what he saw as an
increasingly corrupt government
After two failed attempts, Kim was elected to the National Assembly in 1961, but
his election was invalidated three days later when Gen. Park Chung-hee seized
control of the government through a military coup and dissolved the parliament.
Kim was re-elected in 1963, and his early challenges against Park's iron-fisted
rule put him on track for a turbulent life ahead.
After clinching victory through electoral fraud, Park augmented his powers by
changing the Constitution and abandoned any pretense of democratic rule. He
mercilessly suppressed leaders of democratic movement, and Kim -- as the most
outspoken among them -- became a primary target.
In August 1973, South Korean agents kidnapped Kim from a Tokyo hotel in an
assassination attempt. He was spared after a behind-the-scenes intervention by
officials from the United States and Japan. He returned to South Korea a week
later, but was immediately put under house arrest.
Kim was freed after Park was killed by his intelligence chief in 1979, but the
promise of democracy continued to be elusive. In 1980, Kim and other leading
opposition figures were arrested on charges of treason by Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, who
imposed martial law as he moved to take over the presidency.
Shortly afterward, tens of thousands of people gathered in the city of Gwangju,
not far from Kim's hometown, demanding that Chun rescind martial law and release
the opposition leaders. The military crushed the rally in a bloody massacre that
left at least 200 dead, by official counts.
Kim was sentenced to death after being accused of fomenting the Gwangju uprising,
but was later pardoned.
During his more than 40 years in politics, Kim survived several assassination
attempts, one of which left him with a permanent limp.
Political analysts say it was just short of a miracle that Kim won the 1997
presidential election. His inauguration marked South Korea's first power transfer
between rival parties.
Two years after taking office, he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in
Pyongyang, the first such summit in Korean history. He was awarded the Nobel
Prize the same year in recognition of his lifelong fight for democracy and
efforts to thaw icy inter-Korean relations with his "sunshine" policy of engaging
the North.
Despite enthusiastic support abroad, Kim was a controversial politician at home
and faced significant opposition.
In a country where regional rivalry reigns, Kim's political troubles were
compounded by the fact that he came from Jeolla. Most of South Korea's major
government, business and journalism posts had historically been held by those
from the southeastern Gyeongsang region.
After he left office, the failure of North Korea to honor its summit pledges, a
slowing economy, and a series of corruption scandals -- including some that
involved his sons -- smudged the luster of Kim's presidency.
His reputation was further damaged when it was revealed in 2003 that his summit
in Pyongyang might have in part been the result of a payment of US$500 million to
the North.
Kim recently made headlines when he said the incumbent President Lee Myung-bak, a
conservative, was "intentionally breaking off inter-Korean relations" and urged
the nation to unite against Lee's policies.
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