Tuesday 1 September 2009
Kim Dae-jung
Early Life OF Kim Dae-Jung
Born during the Japanese occupation of Korea, Kim Dae-Jung, The son of a middle-class farmer was born in Mokpo in what was then the Jeolla province ; the city itself is now in located in the South Jeolla province. Kim graduated from Mokpo Commercial High School in 1943 at the top of his class. following graduation, he worked as a clerk for a Japanese-owned shipping company. he later went on to own the business and became very rich. during the Korean War(1950 - 1953) Kim managed to evade the clutches of Communist capture
Kim first entered politics in 1954 during the administration of Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee. Although he succeeded in being 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. 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 succeeded in defeating Park, despite several handicaps on his candidacy which were imposed by the ruling regime.
A very talented orator, Kim could command unmatched loyalty from his supporters. His strongest support came from his home region, where he recieved close to 95% of the popular vote, a record that has remained unsurpassed in the history of South Korean politics.
Kim was almost killed in August 1973, when he was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo and took him to Seoul via boat by KCIA agents in response to Kim"s criticism of President Park's yushin program, this gave Park a large amount of power. Although Kim returned to Seoul alive, he was banned from politics and imprisoned in 1976 for having participated in the proclamation of an anti-government manifesto and was sentenced to five years imprizonment, which was reduced to house arrest in 1978.
Following the Park Chung-hee assassination in 1979 by Kim Jae-kyu, Kim was quickly reinstated. However in 1980, Kim was once again arrested and sentenced to death on charges of sedition and conspiracy in the wake of another coup by Chun Doo-hwan and a popular uprising in Gwangju, his political stronghold. With the intervention of the United States government and Pope John Paul II, who sent a letter to the then-South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan on December 11, 1980, asking for "clemency" for Kim, a Roman-Catholic, the sentence was then commuted to 20 years in prison and later he was given exile to the U.S. Kim temporarily settled in Boston, Massachusetts, and taught as a visiting professor to the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, until he chose to return to his homeland in 1985. During his period abroad, he authored a number of opinion pieces in leading Western newspapers that were sharply critical of the Korean government.
Kim Dae-jung took the name Thomas More as his Christian name at his Baptism. Thus, his name is most correctly written as Thomas More Kim Dae-jung.
Link for obituary: Click here
Link for Tainted Legacy: Click here
Final Interveiw: Click here
In my opinion, Kim Dae-Jung was a true patriot of korea, he truly beleived that he and only he could reunite the 2 Koreas. His praised sunshine Policy, which was seen as a fail in the eyes of quite a few Koreans, but the principle behind it was a show of true patriotism and the means to obtain peace. He will be remembered as a true worrior to the koreans right for peace and harmony. the arguement here is weather or not he was a good politician who stood for order and went about securing his country in noble ways. or was he a corrupt, power hungry man who was only out to make money?
I have expressed my veiws. what do you have to say about it?
this is what the expat thought...
References
N.A. (n.d). "Ask the Expat." Retrieved 21/09/2008, 2009, from http://asktheexpat.blogspot.com/
N.A. (n.d). "Sunset for Korean Sunshine Policy?" Retrieved 23/09/2008, 2009, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7317086.stm
N.A. (n.d). "Former S Korea President Kim dies " Retrieved 24/09/2008, 2009, from
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