Film to be made on former President Kim Dae-jung

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- A movie will be made on the life of the late South
Korean President Kim Dae-jung who died in August after leading a successful life
as a fighter against military rule and the country's sole Nobel Peace Prize
winner, producers of the upcoming film said Tuesday.
The movie, with an estimated budget of 8 billion won (US$6.8 million), will
"focus more on Kim Dae-jung as an ordinary man and father, rather than Kim
Dae-jung as a politician," Wesupply, the producer of the film said.
The production firm is headed by Kim Pil-yong, a former aide to the ex-president.
The production cost will be collected through public donations, Wesupply said.
The director and the leading actor have yet to be selected.
Kim, elected as president in 1997, died on Aug. 18, leaving a legacy as a
champion of human rights who laid the groundwork for a decade of liberal rule
that focused on eradicating the vestiges of authoritarianism and stabilizing
democracy.
Throughout his life, Kim stood firmly before the international community on
issues of human rights and rapprochement with North Korea. He believed in
engaging the isolated state rather than pressuring it, an approach that sometimes
ran counter to the United States.
For such effort, Kim became Korea's first and so far the only Nobel Peace Prize
winner in 2000. His so-called "sunshine" police of engaging North Korea was also
supported by his immediate successor Roh Moo-hyun but abandoned by the incumbent
government of President Lee Myung-bak.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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