Kim
Dae-jung was the president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003 and received the Nobel
Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts to work for peace between North and South
Korea. From the beginning, his political career was quite turbulent. He got into
politics because he was a strong believer in democracy and his country's government
in the late 1950s was becoming less and less democratic. Three days after he was
elected to the parliament in 1961, there was a military coup and the parliament
was dissolved. Over the next 35 years he struggled as an opposition leader with
three failed election bids for president. He survived repeated arrests, a kidnapping,
beatings, at least 5 attempts on his life, exile and a death sentence before finally
being elected as president at the age of 72. His inauguration as president was
the first time that power was peacefully transferred to a democratically elected
opposition party in South Korea. When he took office, his nation was facing a
severe economic crisis, and he quickly enacted economic reforms to save the country
from bankruptcy. He also started a policy of talks and negotiations between South
and North Korea, which was called the Sunshine Policy. In 2000 he and North Korea's
leader, Kim Jong-il met in the first-ever presidential summit between North Korean
and South Korean leaders. For this dramatic step towards peace and reconciliation,
and for his lifetime of work for democracy and human rights, Kim Dae-jung received
the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.
