Kim Dae Joong

Business career

When Kim Dae-jung graduated from Mokpo Commercial School, the Japanese government began to conscript soldiers in large numbers as the war situation became unfavorable to Japan. To help him avoid conscription, Kim Dae-jung's father changed his birth date to December 3, 1925.^[5] Due to the shortage of manpower at the time, which was in the later stages of the war, Kim Dae-jung easily found a job at a Japanese shipping company in Mokpo.^[5]: 16 His Japanese boss also acted as a guarantor for him, allowing him to escape police surveillance. On 9 April 1945, Kim Dae-jung married Cha Yong-ae, the younger sister of a classmate from Mokpo Commercial School.

After World War II, Kim Dae-jung was elected as the chairman of the operating committee of the former Japanese shipping company and took over the company for a period of time. Later, the US military government took back the management rights of the company, but Kim Dae-jung, as a representative of the employees, went to Seoul to negotiate and regain the management rights. His prestige in the business world also rose accordingly. At that time, the staff of Daeyang Shipbuilding Industry, the largest shipyard in Mokpo, also invited him to manage the company. So he managed the shipyard for a period of time. Shortly after the birth of Hong-il, the eldest son of Kim Dae- jung and Cha Yong-ae, Kim Dae-jung established his own Mokpo Shipping Company to operate shipping business between Mokpo, Busan, Gunsan and Incheon. The couple also moved into a two-story house in Changnak-dong While operating the shipping business, he also joined a newspaper originally run by Japanese people, the Mokpo Daily. He quickly went from being a trainee editor and reporter to a senior editor and reporter. In 1948, due to his outstanding performance, Kim Dae-jung, who was only 25 years old, became the president of the Mokpo Daily.^[12]

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out. At the time, Kim Dae-jung was on a business trip in Seoul. On the 28th, Kim Dae-jung woke up to find that the Korean People's Army had occupied Seoul. The chaos of the war forced Kim Dae-jung to return to his hometown as soon as possible. The distance from Seoul to Mokpo was about 400 kilometers. Amidst the roar of fighter planes, Kim Dae-jung risked his life to escape back to Mokpo over 20 days, finally seeing his mother waiting anxiously at the door.^[8]: 36 However, before Kim Dae-jung arrived in Mokpo, it had already been occupied by the Korean People's Army.^[6]: 7 Kim Dae-jung's house was the largest in the vicinity at the time. When Kim Dae-jung returned, all his property had been confiscated. Kim Dae-jung's wife was about to give birth, and the whole family hid in an air-raid shelter. Kim Dae-jung's second son, Hong-eop, was born in the air-raid shelter.^[b] Three days after returning to Mokpo, Kim Dae-jung was arrested as a "capitalist". His brother and father-in-law were also arrested.^{[5]: 18-22 [8]: 42} Kim Dae-jung was imprisoned for two months and was originally to be executed.^[6]: 9 However, he was spared death because the United Nations Forces landed in Incheon and the Korean People's Army stationed in Mokpo hastily withdrew north.^[c] His brother and father-in-law also miraculously escaped death. His other family members were also safe and sound under the care of the employees of Kim Dae-jung's company.^{[5]: 25-32 [8]: 42-51}

Kim Dae-jung's company originally owned three ships. One ship was requisitioned by the authorities to transport military equipment, and another was lost in the war. Kim Dae-jung used the remaining ship to start a new business. The Mokpo Daily News was originally the largest local newspaper operated by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation. The Korean War plunged the newspaper into a severe economic crisis. At the invitation of the newspaper's employees, Kim Dae-jung acquired the newspaper in October 1950. On 4 January 1951, the Korean People's Army reoccupied Seoul. The war situation worsened again for the South. South Korea temporarily moved its government to Busan, which became the wartime capital. Kim Dae-jung also moved his family to Busan to develop his shipping business. He established Heungguk Shipping Co., Ltd. in Busan. In addition to the company's original two ships, Kim Dae-jung took out loans to buy three second-hand ships and leased five more, operating a total of ten ships. He monopolized the transportation business of grain, fertilizer, and pesticides for the Financial Cooperation Federation at the time. Before he was even 30 years old, Kim Dae-jung had already become a well-known entrepreneur. However, the infighting among his own people during the Korean War and the chaos under the rule of Syngman Rhee's government also strengthened his resolve to enter politics.^{[5]: 32-37 [8]: 53-54}

Leaving business for politics

In 1954, Kim Dae-jung abandoned his thriving shipping business and began a bumpy political career. In the same year, he moved his family from Busan back to Mokpo and participated in the third National Assembly election in Mokpo. The labor union had a great influence on the Mokpo election. Because Kim Dae-jung understood workers and was enthusiastic about improving the working conditions of workers, he received the full support and recommendation of the Mokpo Labor Union. The labor union was an organization of the ruling Liberal Party. They put forward a condition that Kim Dae-jung would not participate in the opposition Democratic National Party. Kim Dae-jung agreed to this demand. Because Kim Dae-jung opposed the dictatorship of Syngman Rhee, he was also unwilling to participate in the ruling Liberal Party. In the end, Kim Dae-jung participated in the election as an independent. With the support of the labor union, Kim was originally sure to win. But later the Liberal Party arrested all the cadres of the labor union on the grounds that they, as state cadres, did not support the Liberal Party candidate but supported the independent candidate. Kim's first election in politics was therefore unsuccessful.^{[5]: 38-39 [8]: 55-57}

On September 25, 1956, Kim, persuaded by Chang Myon, formally joined the opposition Democratic Party. In the spring of 1958, he ran for the fourth National Assembly election in Inje County. Inje County was a newly established constituency after the Korean War, with 80% of its voters being military personnel. Due to severe corruption within the military at the time, the soldiers strongly supported the opposition party and hoped for a new regime to take control of the military. However, Kim's candidacy was heavily obstructed by the Liberal Party, and his candidate registration was ultimately deemed invalid. Kim then filed a lawsuit for "obstruction of candidate registration". In March 1959, the court ruled in favor of Kim Dae-jung, and his election as a ruling party candidate for National Assembly was disqualified. In June, Kim participated in a by-election. To prevent Kim's election, the Liberal Party accused him of being a communist and of election fraud. Kim lost his second attempt to run for parliament. To raise campaign funds, he nearly exhausted his family's wealth and sold his house before participating in the 1960 legislative election, leaving him in dire straits. His first wife, Cha Yong-ae, ran a hair salon to make ends meet. Due to overwork, Cha Yong-ae died of heart disease on May 27, 1960.^{[5]: 42-50 [8]: 58-60}

15 March 1960 was the fourth presidential election in South Korea. Kim campaigned for the Democratic Party candidate. The crumbling Syngman Rhee regime, in order to seek re-election, engaged in large-scale election fraud, which triggered a large-scale mass demonstration. Kim also represented the Democratic Party in the protest. On 26 April, Rhee announced his resignation under pressure. In July, Kim once again participated in the fifth National Assembly election in Inje County. However, this election was the first absentee election in history, and the soldiers who supported Kim could not participate in the election, resulting in his defeat again. However, in this election, his talent was discovered by Prime Minister Chang Myon. Kim was promoted to the position of spokesperson for the Democratic Party. Even more fortunately, the Liberal Party candidate who defeated Kim was stripped of his parliamentary qualification for dereliction of duty and suspected illegal election. In the subsequent Inje County by-election, Kim was finally elected as a member of parliament on May 14, 1961, and received his certificate of election on the same day. On May 16, Army Major General Park Chung-hee launched a military coup. The National Assembly of South Korea was dissolved the day after Kim was elected. Kim, who had not yet taken the oath, was also stripped of his parliamentary seat. In order to win over the people, the military government purged the Democratic Party under the banner of eliminating corruption. As the spokesperson of the Democratic Party, Kim was arrested on suspicion of corruption and "harboring communism". Without evidence, detention warrant and arrest warrant, Kim Dae-jung was detained for three months before being released. After being released from prison, Kim moved to Seoul with his two sons and lived with his mother and his sister who was studying at Ewha Womans University. Kim's sister had congenital heart valve disease, but as Kim was unemployed and poor, he could not help her. In the autumn of 1961, when Kim was at his poorest, he ran into Lee Hee-ho, an old friend he had met ten years earlier in Busan. The two later married on May 10, 1962, and had a son named Hong-jae.^{[11]: 85-103 [8]: 68-72}

Member of the National Assembly

On 27 February 1963, the Park Chung-hee military government lifted the ban on the Political Activity Purification Law and began to establish the Democratic Republican Party in preparation for the fifth presidential election. Kim Dae-jung, who had been suppressed for two years, also began to participate in the reconstruction of the Democratic Party and became active in the political arena as the spokesperson of the Democratic Party.^{[11]: 108-109} In November 1963, Kim Dae-jung participated in the sixth National Assembly election in Mokpo. Having experienced the failure and setbacks of the previous five elections, Kim Dae-jung was elected with an absolute advantage of 22,513 votes and became a member of the National Assembly. Kim Dae-jung cherished his hard-won position as a member of the National Assembly. In order to prepare his speech for the National Assembly, he spent his days in the National Assembly Library looking for information. In the six months following the opening of the first plenary session of the National Assembly, Kim Dae-jung became the legislator who spoke the most. His speeches were based on examples and data and often put the ruling party in a difficult position.^{[5]: 88 [11]: 114-117 [8]: 80-85}

In 1964, the Park Chung-hee government began negotiations to normalize diplomatic relations with Japan, sparking large-scale protests. Kim Dae-jung shared similar views with the ruling party on this issue, supporting normalization, which drew criticism from the opposition democratic camp and the public, earning him the label of "lackey of the ruling party". Even his father wrote a letter criticizing him. Unlike the ruling party, Kim Dae-jung believed that the $300 million in compensation demanded by the Park Chung-hee government was insignificant, and that it would be better to refuse it entirely, demanding a sincere apology from Japan. On June 3, 1965, the protests against normalizing relations with Japan reached their peak. Park Chung-hee was even prepared to step down. Japan and South Korea were both allies of the United States. The United States, which had initially disliked Park Chung-hee, began to support him due to the issue of normalizing relations between South Korea and Japan. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Samuel D. Berger, and Commander of the UN Forces Korea, Hywood, flew over the protesters in a helicopter and landed at the Blue House. That evening, Park issued a martial law order, and the demonstrations were suppressed. On June 22, South Korea and Japan signed the Treaty on Basic Relations, formally establishing diplomatic relations.^{[5]: 88-92 [11]: 117-122 [8]: 86-91 [13]: 81-83}

In 1965, the United States began to ask South Korea to send troops to aid in the Vietnam War. South Korean political parties were divided again. Kim Dae-jung also opposed sending troops to Vietnam. The opposition's position deepened the gap with the United States, while the relationship between the Park Chung-hee government and the United States became closer. Shortly after sending troops to Vietnam, Park Chung-hee was invited by US President Johnson to visit the United States and received the highest honors from the leaders of brother countries. However, history proved that South Korea did benefit from sending troops to Vietnam. With the help of US and Japanese aid and the prosperity of the military industry, South Korea's annual economic growth rate exceeded 10%. 1965–1969 also became the peak period of Park Chung-hee's rule. On 21 February 1966, Kim Dae-jung visited the United States for the first time at the invitation of the US State Department, along with two other members of Congress. In September, Kim Dae-jung and other moderate members of Congress went to Vietnam to inspect the South Korean military.^{[5]: 93-95 [11]: 123 [8]: 92}

In 1965, the Democratic Party, the People's Justice Party, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Nationalist Party, and the People's Party merged into a single opposition People's Party, and Kim Dae-jung was elected as its spokesperson and head of the propaganda bureau. In August 1966, Kim Dae-jung became a core leader of the People's Party, serving as the chairman of the party's policy committee and a member of the Central Executive Bureau. On 7 February 1967, the two major opposition parties, the People's Party and the Shinhan Party, merged into the New People's Party, and Kim Dae-jung was elected as a member of the Central Executive Bureau of the New People's Party and the spokesperson of the New People's Party.^{[5]: 96 [11]: 123-124} In June 1967, Kim Dae-jung once again participated in the election for the seventh National Assembly in his hometown of Mokpo. As Kim Dae-jung's influence in politics expanded, Park Chung-hee had already regarded him as a thorn in his side. On the eve of the election, Park Chung-hee and the ruling party made a decision that they would rather have the ruling party candidate lose 20 places in other regions than let Kim Dae-jung be elected. Park Chung-hee also personally came to Mokpo twice to campaign for the ruling party candidate. However, Kim Dae-jung was ultimately elected by a narrow margin of 2,000 votes. However, the ruling party won two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly for the "third election to amend the constitution".^{[5]: 97-105 [8]: 97-106}

1971 presidential election

On October 17, 1969, after the opposition party tried its best to stop it but failed, Park Chung-hee's "three-election constitutional reform" plan was passed by the National Assembly. This cleared the legal obstacles for Park Chung-hee to serve as president for the third time. Park Chung-hee's success dealt a heavy blow to South Korean democracy.^[11]: 133 The leadership of the New Democratic Party at that time was already very old. The aging and conservative ideas, coupled with the failure to resist Park Chung-hee's "three-election constitutional reform", made the atmosphere within the party very depressed. On November 8, 1969, Kim Young-sam, the head of the General Affairs Department of the New Democratic Party, proposed the "40-year-old generation standard-bearer theory", advocating the transfer of political dominance to young politicians in their 40s, which was supported by party members Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Lee Cheol-seung, three young leaders in their 40s, became competitors for the New Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 1971. On September 29, 1970, Kim Dae-jung was finally elected as the New Democratic Party's presidential candidate after two rounds of voting.^{[5]: 113-116 [8]: 107-110}

Kim promised a welfare-oriented "mass economy" and also advocated easing tensions with North Korea, while predicting correctly that if Park was reelected, he would become a "generalissimo".^[14] Kim Dae-jung believed that in order to win the presidential election, the opposition party needed to reshape its image and come up with a complete set of governance plans. In October 1970, Kim Dae-jung, as the presidential candidate of the New Democratic Party, held a press conference in Seoul. At the conference, Kim Dae-jung announced a complete set of governance plans, including the unification of North and South Korea, the abolition of the "local reserve army system" which the people complained about, and the economic reform plan of establishing a labor-management co-management committee, which had a significant impact on Korean society. Kim Dae-jung's economic reform plan later became part of his "mass participation economy".^{[5]: 117-123 [11]} In 1985, Harvard University published Kim Dae-jung's "Mass Participation Economy". In February 1971, Kim Dae-jung and his wife Lee Hee-ho visited Japan and the United States, aiming to promote the New Democratic Party's policies to the two countries and seek support and establish cooperative relations. During his stay in the United States, Kim Dae-jung visited key officials of the U.S. State Department and members of Congress such as Edward Kennedy. Lee Hee-ho also visited First Lady Pat Nixon at the White House and took a photo with her. To counter Kim Dae-jung's influence, the Park Chung-hee regime resorted to any means necessary. During Kim Dae-jung's visit to the United States, his residence was bombed. The authorities arrested more than 50 people on the grounds of "insider involvement". Kim Dae-jung's nephew, a second-year middle school student, was subjected to waterboarding and forced to give false testimony, and was made a scapegoat, accused of being the bomber.^[d] A few days later, a fire mysteriously broke out in the house of election committee chairman Jung Il-hyung in the early morning. The authorities announced that the fire was caused by a cat bringing fire from the heated floor. This absurd incident became a topic of discussion overseas and was ranked among the top ten news stories in South Korea that year. To obstruct Kim Dae-jung's election, the Park Chung-hee military government falsely accused Kim Dae-jung of being a "communist-friendly" element and incited regional conflicts. Because the opposition party leader and the presidential candidate were not the same person, and due to the infighting among the compromise faction within the party, Kim Dae-jung was essentially fighting alone. In addition, the authorities also arrested and persecuted business people who sponsored Kim Dae-jung's campaign.^{[5]: 124-129 [8]: 115-119 [13]: 102-105}

In April 1971, Kim Dae-jung ran for president for the first time as the opposition party's presidential candidate, challenging President Park Chung-hee. During the three months of the election, he traveled to various places every day, averaging 400-800 kilometers a day, and was called "Iron Man" by the public.^[8]: 120 The ruling Democratic Republican Party grassroots tried their best to obstruct Kim Dae-jung's election activities. However, Kim Dae-jung was still welcomed by the local people wherever he went. In Daegu, Park Chung-hee's hometown, 200,000 people spontaneously came to listen to Kim Dae-jung's speech. In Busan, the number of people who listened to his speech reached 500,000. When Kim Dae-jung gave a speech at Jangchungdam Park in Seoul, the number of listeners reached an unprecedented 1 million. When Park Chung-hee gave a speech at Jangchungdam Park, the number of listeners was only one-third of that of Kim Dae-jung.^[6]: 93 In addition to obstructing Kim Dae-jung's election activities, the ruling DRP also took various illegal and fraudulent actions in the election to ensure that Park Chung-hee was elected. Even the votes cast by Kim Dae-jung and his wife were declared invalid by the authorities.^[8]: 125 On 28 April, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun published a report entitled "Invalid and Illegal". showed that Kim Dae-jung won 44.4% of the vote, losing to Park Chung-hee, who sought re-election through large-scale fraud.^[15] At the time, some commentators believed that "if there had been a fair election body to supervise and the votes had been counted correctly, Kim Dae-jung would have been elected president".^[16]

One month after the presidential election was the election for the eighth National Assembly. Kim Dae-jung used his popularity among the people to lobby for the New People's Party candidates in various places. Kim's rise made Park Chung-hee feel threatened.^[15] Kim was subsequently threatened with death several times. On May 25, 1971, on the highway from Mokpo to Gwangju, Kim was involved in a "car accident" deliberately caused by Park Chung-hee, and three supporters traveling with him died on the spot. Although Kim survived, his hip joint was severely injured, leaving him with a lifelong disability and he could only walk with a limp.^[15] On May 27, 1971, the results of the vote for the eighth National Assembly were announced. The ruling Democratic Republican Party won 113 seats, and the New People's Party won 89 seats, far exceeding the legally required number of 65 votes (one-third) to resist the amendment of the constitution. Kim was also elected as a member of the eighth National Assembly. The unexpected victory of the New People's Party dealt a heavy blow to Park Chung-hee's dictatorship.^[11]: 161

Political prosecution

First overseas exile and Tokyo kidnapping case

Due to the fatigue of the presidential and parliamentary campaigns and the worsening of his injuries after the car accident, Kim was bedridden. The Park Chung-hee administration began to monitor Kim 24 hours a day, and including tapping his houses phone. The houses around Kim's home were also rented by the authorities for surveillance, while his name began to disappear from newspapers, television and radio. On October 17, 1972, while Kim was receiving treatment for a hip injury in Japan, Park Chung-hee launched the October Restoration.^[5]: 148 Ten days later, Park Chung-hee promulgated the Yushin Constitution, changing the direct election of the president to an indirect election by the National Conference for Unification, and abolishing the term limits on the president. On December 23, Park Chung-hee was elected as the eighth president of South Korea as the only presidential candidate. After careful consideration, Kim decided to apply for political asylum in Tokyo to seek intervention from the Japanese and American governments. On October 18, Kim invited journalists from various countries to a press conference in Tokyo and wrote articles in several Japanese newspapers and media outlets to oppose Park's October Restoration.^{[11]: 170-175 [8]: 133-135 [5]: 160-163}

In late 1972, Kim flew from Japan to the United States to lobby American politicians to put pressure on the situation in South Korea. Through introductions from two Harvard University professors, Kim met with several prominent American political figures, including Democratic Party senator Mike Mansfield, who later became the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. He also gave speeches at several American universities, including Columbia University, Missouri State University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Washington, talking about the Yushin coup and calling on the United States to support South Korea's democratic struggle against Park Chung-hee. Reportedly, these universities received protest calls from the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, demanding that they not provide venues for Kim. On 5 January 1973, Kim returned to Japan from the United States. As in the US, Kim maintained extensive contact with members of both ruling and opposition parties in Japan, including Kakuei Tanaka, Takeo Fukuda, and Tomisaburo Hashimoto. During his exile in Japan, Kim published the book Dictatorship and My Struggle. On 6 March 1973, he came to the US for the second time and established a political organization with Korean expatriates in the US to develop democracy, oppose Park Chung-hee and promote national reunification, called the National Conference for the Restoration of Democracy and Promotion of Unification of Korea.^{[5]: 164-171 [11]: 170-176 [8]: 138-141}

On July 10, 1973, Kim returned to Japan in order to establish the "Korean Democratic Unification Japan Headquarters". Kim Dae-jung's activities overseas angered Park Chung-hee. On August 8, 1973, Kim Dae -jung met with Yang Yi-tong, the president of the Democratic Party of Unification, who came to Japan from South Korea for medical treatment, at the Grand Palace Hotel in Tokyo. Since Yang Yi-tong and Kim Dae-jung were close friends, Yang Yi-tong was followed by South Korean agents on this trip. When Kim came out of Yang Yi-tong's room, he was kidnapped by five or six unidentified men in black sent by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). After being drugged, Kim was tied up and taken to the sea. He was almost drowned and was eventually kidnapped back to Seoul.^[17] Later, with the help of the American Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Dae-jung was released on October 26, but was placed under house arrest at home.^[18] During this period, he was designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.^[19] 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 was sent down from Heavens by the almighty God Himself to rescue me from the moment of death.

— Kim Dae-jung^[20]

Philip Habib, the US ambassador in Seoul, had interceded for him with the South Korean government; the "airplane" referred to was a patrol plane from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force which was tracking the kidnappers. In October 2007, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), successor to the KCIA, admitted that the KCIA carried out the plot. The NIS expressed its regret and had planned to kill and dump Kim into the sea. While the NIS panel said President Park "at least gave a passive approval", the panel added it could not prove Park directly ordered the kidnapping at the time.^[21] The kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung on Japanese soil was clearly an infringement on Japanese sovereignty. This matter has attracted much attention in Japan. However, the Park Chung-hee administration described the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung as "a play written and directed by Kim Dae-jung himself". In order to quell Japanese public opinion, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil visited Japan and expressed his apology to Japan. On August 15, 1974, South Korea's Liberation Day, the Moon Se-gwang incident occurred in South Korea. Park Chung-hee's wife, Yuk Young-soo, was shot and killed by Moon Se-gwang, a Japanese Korean who came to assassinate Park Chung-hee, at the National Theater in Jangchung-dong, putting Japan in an awkward position. After that, Japan's investigation into the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung was also left unresolved.^{[13]: 136-137}

Death sentence

On 26 October 1979, after Park Chung-hee was assassinated, Seoul experienced a brief political spring. On November 10, Acting President Choi Kyu-hah issued a "Special Statement" proposing that, in accordance with national law, a "National Assembly for the Unification of the Mainland" be held to indirectly elect a president within three months. The new president would listen to opinions from all sectors as quickly as possible, amend the Yushin Constitution, and then elect a president in accordance with the new constitution. Choi Kyu-hah's speech was supported by the US government. The transitional government quickly lifted a series of emergency measures issued by Park Chung-hee. All sectors of the government and the public also began to prepare for the 1980 presidential election. Two months later, Kim Dae-jung's house arrest was lifted, while his citizenship was restored on 1 March 1980.^{[11]: 295-303 [8]: 183-191 [5]: 228-229}

On 12 December 1979, Chun Doo-hwan launched a military coup, seizing control of the military and establishing a caretaker cabinet under Choi Kyu-hah. In May 1980, the three Kims who led the democracy movement, university students, and the public engaged in a life-or-death struggle with Chun's military forces. Protests demanding the abolition of the Yushin Movement and Chun's resignation continued to erupt in Seoul. On May 17, Chun launched another military coup. Government buildings, the National Assembly building, news agencies, and universities in Seoul were occupied by the military. Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil were arrested, Kim Young-sam was placed under house arrest, and hundreds of other democracy activists were arrested. The military imposed martial law nationwide. South Korea's democratic development process once again entered a period of hardship. The day after Kim Dae-jung's arrest, the Gwangju Uprising erupted in Gwangju. On September 11, Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death by a military court on two charges: "conspiracy to instigate the Gwangju Uprising" and "chief culprit of an anti-national group" that organized the "Unification of the Republic of Korea" overseas after the 1972 October Restoration coup. Kim Dae-jung appealed. Pope John Paul II sent a letter to South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan on 11 December 1980, asking for clemency for Kim, a Catholic,^{[23][11]: 300-336 [24]: 34 [5]: 232-265} then on the 13th, US SecDef Harold Brown warned the Chun regime, that the execution would have a "very significant" impact upon US-Korean relations.^[25]

In January 1981, his appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court. Under pressure from the United States, however, Kim Dae-jung's sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment.^[26] After the sentence was changed to life imprisonment, Kim Dae-jung was transferred from the army prison to Cheongju Prison. During his imprisonment, Kim Dae-jung's wife wrote, totaling 640 letters over two years. His sons also wrote him more than 200 letters. However, the prison did not allow the retention of letters, and letters and photos from family members were confiscated after being viewed. According to prison regulations, Kim Dae-jung could only send one postcard per month at most. To this end, Kim Dae-jung began to practice writing small characters on both sides of the postcards. He once wrote a letter of more than 20,000 words on a postcard sent to his family. In 1983, these letters of Kim Dae-jung were compiled into a book called With the Regret of the Nation and published in the United States. Later, it was translated into Japanese and published in Japan under the title Letters from Prison. In 1984, the book was published in South Korea under the title Letters from Prison of Kim Dae-jung.^{[11]: 300-336 [24]: 34 [5]: 232-265}

American intelligence understood that Chun wanted Kim's execution to take place during the U.S. presidential transition between the outgoing president Jimmy Carter and president-elect Ronald Reagan. The outgoing Carter Administration, which had poor relations with the South Korean government, asked Reagan's incoming National Security Advisor Richard V. Allen to intervene. Allen, not wanting the Reagan Administration to be blamed for the execution, told Chun that Reagan was opposed to Kim's execution. Allen asked for Kim's sentence to be commuted, and Chun, who was eager to seek American acceptance of his rule following the 1980 coup, accepted in exchange for an invitation to be one of the first foreign leaders to visit the new Reagan Administration at the White House in February 1981.^[27][28][29] Kim's sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison.

1987 presidential election

In the mid-1980s, with the rise of student and civil movements in South Korea and South Korea's international commitment to the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, the military government's dictatorship in South Korea had reached its end.^[e] At the end of 1984, Kim Dae-jung prepared to return to South Korea to contribute to the National Assembly elections on 12 February of the following year, but was opposed by the South Korean government. However, under the intervention of the US government, the South Korean government finally had to allow Kim Dae-jung to return to South Korea and promised his personal safety. In order to prevent Kim Dae-jung from becoming a second Aquino, on 8 February 1985, more than thirty-seven supporters, including Patricia M. Derian, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights; Congressmen Edward Feighan and Thomas Foglietta; Pharis Harvey; and a number of other prominent Americans accompanied Kim Dae-jung back to South Korea.^[13] At Gimpo International Airport, Kim Dae-jung was warmly welcomed by more than 300,000 people. After returning home, Kim Dae-jung was immediately placed under house arrest.^{[8]: 212-215 [5]: 282-287 [30]} Four days after Kim Dae-jung returned to Korea, the election for the 1985 South Korean legislative election had a dramatic result. The New People's Party, which had been established for less than a month, won the election and became the largest opposition party.^{[11]: 359 [5]: 288} Following the ruling government's drubbing in the legislative election, Chun lifted the ban on fourteen opposition politicians, but not for Kim Dae-jung.^[14]

On 12 February 1986, at the first anniversary meeting of the founding of the New Democratic Party, Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam and the president of the New Democratic Party took the lead in signing a petition to amend the constitution. Soon the petition to amend the constitution spread like wildfire throughout the country. On 30 April 1987, Chun Doo-hwan was forced to say under pressure that it was not impossible to amend the constitution during his term. However, on June 10, the ruling Democratic Justice Party (DJP) held a presidential candidate convention and nominated Roh Tae-woo as the candidate for the 13th presidential election, stubbornly insisting on the indirect election system for the president. This move triggered the largest democratic movement in South Korean history, the June Democracy Movement. In order to quell the movement, Roh Tae-woo had no choice but to announce on June 29 that the current constitution would be amended, the presidential election would be conducted directly and Kim Dae-jung would be pardoned.^{[f][8]: 215-217 [11]: 359-366 [5]: 303-304}

1992 presidential election

Although Kim Dae-jung lost the 13th presidential election, his People's Party achieved a major victory in the National Assembly elections, winning 70 seats and becoming the largest opposition party. Kim Young-sam's RDP won 59 seats, becoming the second largest opposition party. Kim Jong-pil's NDRP won 35 seats, becoming the third largest opposition party. The combined seats of the three opposition parties exceeded the 125 seats won by the ruling DJP. This created a situation of "small government, large opposition" in South Korean politics for the first time. At the first session of the 13th National Assembly, Kim Dae-jung returned to the National Assembly podium after 16 years of hardship to deliver a speech. He demanded that the Roh Tae-woo government thoroughly investigate the truth of the Gwangju Uprising and investigate the illegal and corrupt practices of the Chun Doo-hwan government. Under the impetus of the People's Party, the National Assembly used its power of oversight and investigation to establish the "Fifth Republic Hearings." Chun Doo-hwan's corrupt practices were exposed. Under pressure, the Roh Tae-woo government arrested Chun Doo-hwan's family members and close associates suspected of corruption at the end of 1989. Chun Doo-hwan was also forced to attend the National Assembly hearings and apologize to the people. Afterwards, Chun Doo-hwan resigned from all public office, paid 13.9 billion won in political funds, and went into seclusion with his wife at Baekdamsa Temple.^{[5]: 320-324 [11]: 376}

1997 presidential election

In preparation for the 1997 presidential election, the National Congress for New Politics led by Kim Dae-jung formed an alliance with the DLP led by Kim Jong-pil. In December 1997, Kim Dae-jung ran for the presidency of South Korea for the fourth time as the joint presidential candidate of both parties, competing against Lee Hoi-chang, the presidential candidate of the ruling Grand National Party, and Lee In-je, who ran independently after leaving the ruling party. During the campaign, Kim Dae-jung put forward the campaign platform of "Towards the 21st century, towards a new politics of unification", and put forward the "regional change theory" based on the public's dissatisfaction with the ruling party and the status quo. At the same time, Kim Dae-jung made full use of the dissatisfaction over the handling of the 1997 Asian financial crisis by the ruling party to vigorously establish a new image of "economic president" and "president who is ready". Initially trailing heavily in the polls and seen by some as a perennial candidate, his situation became favorable when the public revolted against the incumbent conservative Kim Young-sam government in the wake of the nation's economic collapse in the Asian financial crisis just weeks before the election.^{[5]: 392-401 [36][11]: 395 [36][37]}

In the election held on 18 December 1997, at the age of 73, Kim Dae-jung, with more than 40 years of political experience, defeated his long-time opponents and was elected as the 15th president of South Korea. His election victory at that time was the closest ever, where a split in the ruling conservative party led to separate candidacies of Lee Hoi-chang and Lee In-je, and both achieved 38.7% and 19.2% of the vote respectively, enabling Kim to win with only 40.3% of the popular vote or by a margin of 390,000 votes of 26 million over his opponent, Lee Hoi-chang.^[38] Lee was a former Supreme Court Justice and Prime Minister who had graduated at the top of his class from the Seoul National University School of Law and was widely viewed as politically inexperienced, elitist, and his inept handling of charges that his sons had dodged the mandatory military service further damaged his campaign.

Kim, in contrast, had an outsider image which suited the anti-establishment mood and developed a strategy to use the media effectively in his campaign. In 1997, the "North Winds" scandal involved lawmakers of Lee's party, who met North Korean agents in Beijing, who agreed to instigate, in exchange for bribes, a skirmish on the DMZ right before the presidential election to try to cause a panic that would hamper Kim's campaign due to his dovish stand on North Korea.^[39][40][41] Lee's colleagues were later prosecuted.^[42] Ex-presidents Park Chung Hee, Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, and Kim Young-sam hailed from the Gyeongsang Province region, which became wealthier since 1945 partly because of the policies of Park, Chun, and Roh's regimes. Kim Dae-jung was the first president who came from the southwestern Jeolla region to serve a full term, an area that had been neglected and less developed partly because of the previous presidents' discriminatory policies.

Transition period as president-elect

Two days after the election, outgoing president Kim Young-sam and the president-elect Kim Dae-jung met and formed a joint 12-member Emergency Economic Committee (ECC), made up of six members each from the outgoing and incoming governments but effectively under the president-elect's control, serving as the de facto economic cabinet until Kim Dae-jung would assume office two months later on 25 February 1998. This meant that Kim effectively had taken charge of making economic decisions during this period even before he took office.^{[11]: 395 [36]}

The president-elect's coalition and the majority Grand National Party of the outgoing president also agreed to convene a special session of the National Assembly to deal with a series of thirteen financial reform bills required under both the original IMF program and its 24 December revised deal. This transition period saw important financial reform legislation being passed into law, that had been stalled under the outgoing government. The president-elect cooperated with the outgoing government and ruling party to get legislative backing for several important reform measures. In particular, the delegation of substantial powers to the newly created Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) greatly enhanced the government's powers to rein in the chaebols who were caught up in the crisis.

As president-elect, Kim Dae-jung also advised outgoing president Kim Young-sam to pardon two former presidents who were both imprisoned in 1996 for corruption, treason and insurrection, Chun Doo-hwan (who had Kim sentenced to death) and Roh Tae-woo (Chun's second-in-command), in the spirit of national unity.

Lee Myung-bak administration

In April 2008, Kim Dae-jung visited Portland and Boston in the United States. On the 20th, he gave a speech entitled "Sunshine Policy is the Road to Success" at the Kennedy School of Harvard University.^[61] In September, Kim Dae-jung attended the "Nobel Peace Prize" summit held in Stavanger, Norway, and gave a speech entitled "The Power of Dialogue - Mutualism Dialogue with Common Interests as the Goal".^{[5]: 742-744} On 26 October, Kim Dae-jung was invited to attend the "Northeast Asia Regional Development and Cooperation Forum" held in Shenyang. Afterwards, he visited Dandong City, which is separated from the Korean Peninsula by a river. On 4 May 2009, Kim Dae-jung visited China again at the invitation of the Foreign Affairs College and met with Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, at the Great Hall of the People.^{[5]: 750-751}

Roh Moo-hyun, who succeeded Kim Dae-jung as president, held him in high esteem. Although their relationship was sometimes tense, it was very close.^[62] On 23 May 2009, when Kim Dae-jung learned of Roh Moo-hyun's suicide, he said, "It feels like half of my body has collapsed." On 28 May, when Kim Dae-jung and his wife paid their respects to Roh Moo-hyun at the Seoul Station funeral parlor in a wheelchair, Kim Dae-jung said, "If I were subjected to the same insults, setbacks, and despair as former President Roh Moo-hyun, I would probably make the same choice.. That's how the world is; sometimes it's cloudy, but sometimes it's sunny. If even brave people can't bear it, how can it be.^[63] The prosecution investigated Roh Moo-hyun, including himself, his wife, and all his relatives without missing a single one, but until Roh Moo-hyun's death, the prosecution still couldn't produce any conclusive evidence." At the funeral service held the next day, Kim Dae-jung held the hand of Roh Moo-hyun's widow, Kwon Yang-sook, and wept bitterly. He also told reporters that he had intended to deliver a eulogy at the funeral service, but the government prevented him from doing so.^[64][65] At the ninth anniversary of the 15 June North-South Joint Declaration, Kim Dae-jung said that he and Roh Moo-hyun were "like brothers in a previous life" and accused the current government of being a "dictatorship".^[62]

Commemoration

The day after Kim Dae-jung's death, in consideration of his great contributions to the country and the nation, the Lee Myung-bak government decided to hold a six-day state funeral for him. During the state funeral, the national flag was flown at half-mast throughout South Korea. This was the first state funeral held in South Korea in thirty years since the state funeral held for Park Chung-hee after his assassination in 1979, and it was also the first state funeral held for a former president.^[72][73][74] The funeral committee consisted of 2,371 people from the political, educational, religious and economic circles of South Korea, as well as relatives recommended by the bereaved family. It was the largest state funeral in South Korean history. The chairman of the funeral committee was Han Seung-soo, the then Prime Minister of South Korea.^[75]

At 2 p.m. on 23 August 2009, Kim Dae-jung's funeral was held in the front yard of the National Assembly of South Korea. More than 30,000 people attended, including Kim Dae-jung's widow Lee Hee-ho and other relatives, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his wife Kim Yoon-ok, former President Kim Young-sam, ambassadors and representatives from various countries to South Korea, and South Korean citizens.^[76] Former Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan Kono Yohei, and other dignitaries from various countries came to pay their respects on behalf of their respective governments.^[77] Kim Jong-il, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, sent a telegram of condolence to Kim Dae-jung's family after Kim Dae-jung's death.^[76] On August 21, a North Korean delegation led by Kim Ki-nam, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, paid their respects at Kim Dae-jung's funeral hall and offered condolences to Kim Dae-jung's family. The funeral lasted about ninety minutes. In his eulogy, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said, "His Excellency the President dedicated his life to democracy, human rights, peace and national reconciliation. His legacy will be remembered forever as part of our glorious history." After the funeral, Kim Dae-jung's coffin was moved to the Seoul National Cemetery for burial. The hearse passed by landmarks in the city, including the Yeouido Democratic Party headquarters, the Donggyo-dong private residence (which has been expanded into the "Kim Dae-jung Peace Center"), Gwanghwamun Sejong Crossing, Seoul Plaza, and Seoul Station. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to bid farewell to Kim Dae-jung, creating a very moving scene.

Other

In February 2003, Yonsei University converted the headquarters building of the Asia Pacific Peace Foundation, donated by Kim Dae-jung, into the Kim Dae-jung Library.^[10] This is the first presidential library in South Korea. The library is managed by the Institute for Unification Studies at Yonsei University. The library houses the Nobel Peace Prize medals won by Kim Dae-jung, photos of Kim Dae-jung, his personal belongings, and tens of thousands of books donated by Kim Dae-jung, related to Kim Dae-jung, and books on the unification of the Korean Peninsula added by Yonsei University.^[78][79]

The Kim Dae-jung Memorial Hall has been built in Mokpo, Kim Dae-jung's hometown.^[80] A bronze statue of Kim Dae-jung stands in front of the library of Mokpo First High School, Kim Dae-jung's alma mater. The Kim Dae-jung Conference Center in Gwangju Metropolitan City, South Korea, and the Kim Dae-jung Bridge connecting Sinan County and Muan County in Jeollanam-do are named after Kim Dae-jung.^[81][82]

In August 2010, on the first anniversary of Kim Dae-jung's death, the Korean Three People Publishing House published Kim Dae-jung's Autobiography, which had a great impact in South Korea.^[80] As soon as the book was released, 80,000 copies were sold out. Japan's NHK television station once filmed a documentary entitled "Kim Dae-jung's Autobiography Dedicated to the Japanese People" during Kim Dae-jung's lifetime. The film achieved the second highest viewership rating for a documentary since the establishment of NHK.^[24]: 173 In 2002, the film KT, which was co-produced by Japan and South Korea and was about the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung, was nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.^[83]