Chronology of former President Kim Dae-jung

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- The following is a chronology of major events related
to South Korea's former President Kim Dae-jung who died on Tuesday.

-- 1924: Born in the far southwestern island of Haui, South Jeolla Province.

-- 1943: Graduates from Mokpo Commercial High School.

-- 1948: Becomes chief of Mokpo Daily, based in South Jeolla Province.

-- 1950: Resigns as the head of Mokpo Daily.

-- 1951: Takes office as president of a maritime company, Heungkeuk.

-- 1957: Becomes a member of the central standing committee of the opposition
Democratic Party.

-- 1960: Becomes a spokesman for the Democratic Party.

-- 1961: Elected to the fifth National Assembly following victory in a by-election.

-- 1963: Elected to the sixth National Assembly.

-- 1964: Receives a diploma from Seoul's Korea University graduate school in
business administration.

-- 1965: Becomes a spokesman for People's Party, named Minjung Party in Korean.

-- 1967: Elected to the seventh National Assembly.

-- 1970: Tapped as presidential candidate for the New People's Party.

-- 1971: Elected to the eighth National Assembly. Named presidential candidate with
the New Democratic Party.

-- 1972: Seeks political asylum in Japan and the United States following President
Park Chung-hee's declaration of Revitalizing Reforms, known as the Yushin
Constitution, which dissolved the eighth National Assembly while extending Park's
dictatorial rule that ended with his assassination in 1979.

-- 1973: Kidnapped by a group of South Korean intelligence officials in Tokyo and
placed under house arrest.

-- 1976: Arrested on charges of organizing a democratic movement that led to a
democratization declaration on March 1.

-- 1979: Released from prison on a special amnesty.

-- 1980: Sentenced to death after being convicted on charges of conspiracy and
sedition

-- 1981: Sentence reduced to life imprisonment.

-- 1982: Released from prison after suspension of sentence. Seeks asylum in the U.S.

-- 1983: Founds a research institute on human rights in the U.S.

-- 1985: Returns to South Korea and becomes co-chairman of the Seoul-based
consultative committee for democratization.

-- 1987: Runs for the 13th president on the ticket of the Peace and Democratic Party.

-- 1988: Elected to the 13th National Assembly.

-- 1991: Becomes chairman of the New Democratic Party.

-- 1992: Elected to the 14th National Assembly, later runs in the 14th presidential
election on the ticket of the Democratic Party. Named a professor emeritus at Moscow
University in Russia.

-- 1993: Named professor emeritus at Cambridge University in Britain.

-- 1994: Becomes head of the Asia-Pacific Peace Foundation.

-- 1995: Becomes the president of the National Congress for the New Politics (Party).

-- 1997: Elected the 15th president of South Korea.

-- 1998: Sworn in as president.

-- 2000: Named chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party. Wins the Nobel Peace
Prize following the first-ever inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il in June.

-- 2001: Awarded Britain's highest award, the Order of Saint Michael and Saint
George, by Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his lifelong contribution to enhancing
democracy and human rights.

-- 2002: Withdraws his membership from the Millennium Democratic Party, now the
Democratic Party.

-- 2003: Steps down as the 15th president of South Korea. Undergoes minor coronary
surgery at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital in Seoul.

-- 2006: Takes office as chairman of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Foundation for the
Asia-Pacific Region.

-- 2009: Passes away at a Seoul hospital
(END)