Korea honors legacy of Kim Dae-jung

If the late former President Kim Dae-jung was to choose a venue for his own memorial service, the dissident-turned-national leader may have picked the central Seoul Plaza, the nation’s symbol of democracy where tens of thousands rally from time to time against oppressive government policies. 

A year after his death, thousands of Koreans are expected to gather at the plaza, this time to honor the legacy of the liberal leader dubbed the “Nelson Mandela of Asia” for his longstanding opposition against authoritarian rule and engaging policies toward the reclusive North Korea.

“Thank you. We miss you. We love you,” an Internet user posted on a Website run by an organization of Kim’s supporters. 

Kim is perhaps the Korean president most widely known worldwide as the nation’s first and only Nobel Peace laureate. To his countrymen, Kim is also reputed as a passionate champion of human rights and democracy, who braved several assassination attempts while fighting against the country’s military dictatorship in 1970s. 

Kim, who served as the president of South Korea from 1998-2003, died Aug. 18 last year at the age of 85. 

Born to a middle class farming family in the southwestern town of Mokpo, Kim worked as a clerk for a Japanese-owned shipping company shortly after graduating from high school.

Surviving the three-year Korean War, Kim vowed to enter politics and was elected to the National Assembly in 1961 after three unsuccessful bids. 

Becoming an eminent opposition leader, Kim ran for presidency and nearly defeated his rightwing rival Park Chung-hee, who had staged a military coup to dissolve the legislature. The close match prompted the late President Park to tinker with the Constitution to guarantee his rule in the future.

Outspokenly criticizing the near-dictatorial powers granted to President Park and his successor Chun Doo-hwan, Kim became a political target and was imprisoned and later sentenced to death. 

With the intervention of the U.S. government, the sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison and later he was given exile in the U.S. 

Returning home amid rapid political changes and confusion, Kim was elected president on his fourth attempt. His inauguration in 1998 marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party peacefully transferred power to a democratically elected opposition victor.

Kim was also the nation’s first president from Jeolla, a relatively neglected and underdeveloped region, which later became the foundation of balanced regional development policies.