Kim Dae-jung (Korean: 김대중; Hanja: 金大中, 6 January 1924 – 18 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and statesman who served as President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003

Kim Dae-jung

Kim Dae-jung (Korean: 김대중; Hanja: 金大中; Korean pronunciation: [kim.dɛ.dʑuŋ];^[a] 6 January 1924 – 18 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and statesman 

who served as President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the only Korean Nobel Prize recipient in history. He was sometimes referred to as the "Nelson Mandela of South Korea".^[2] Kim was the first opposition candidate to win the presidency, ending 50 years of conservative rule.

Kim Dae-Jung was born on 6 January 1924,^[3] but

he later registered his birth date to 3 December 1925 to avoid conscription during the time when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. Kim was the second of seven children to middle-class farmers. Kim was born in Sinan in what was then the Jeolla province; the city is now in Jeollanam-do. Kim's family had moved to the nearby port city of Mokpo so that he could finish high school. He adopted the Japanese name Toyota Taichū (豊田大中) during the Japanese colonial period.

Kim graduated from Mokpo Commercial Middle School in 1943 at the top of the class. After working as a clerk for a Japanese-owned shipping company, he became its owner and became very rich. Kim escaped Communist capture during the Korean War.^[4]

Kim first entered politics in 1954 during the administration of Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee. Although he was elected as a representative for the National Assembly in 1961, a military coup led by Park Chung-hee, who later assumed dictatorial powers, voided the elections.^[4] He was able to win a seat in the House in the subsequent elections in 1963 and 1967 and went on to become an eminent opposition leader. As such, he was the natural opposition candidate for the country's presidential election in 1971. He nearly defeated Park, despite several handicaps on his candidacy which were imposed by the ruling regime.^[5]

A very talented orator, Kim could command unwavering loyalty among his supporters. His staunchest support came from the Jeolla region, where he reliably garnered upwards of 95% of the popular vote, a record that has remained unsurpassed in South Korean politics.

While campaigning for legislative elections in 1971 (a month after the presidential election), a truck turned directly into the path of his car, seriously injuring him and his two aides. He was left with a permanent limp for the rest of his life. It was suspected that the collision was an assassination attempt by the Park regime.^[6]

Kim was almost killed in August 1973, when he was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo by KCIA agents in response to his criticism of President Park's yushin program, which granted near-dictatorial powers. Years later, 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.