Former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung dies
Tue Aug 18, 5:26 am ET
SEOUL (AFP) – Kim Dae-Jung, a renowned democracy campaigner who survived assassination attempts and a death sentence to win South Korea's presidency and the Nobel peace prize, died on Tuesday aged 85.
"He was declared dead at 1:43 pm (0443 GMT)," said a spokesman for Seoul's Severance Hospital.
"His heart began failing at 1:35 pm and stopped minutes later despite our efforts to revive it."
Kim, who was president from 1998-2003, had been admitted to hospital on July 13 with pneumonia and related complications.
He held South Korea's first-ever summit with communist North Korea in 2000 and was awarded the Nobel prize later that year.
"We lost a great political leader today," current President Lee Myung-Bak said in a statement.
"His accomplishments and aspirations to achieve democratisation and inter-Korean reconciliation will long be remembered by the people."
The presidential office said it would respect the family's wishes over whether to organise a state funeral. It said Seoul would not stop North Korea sending a delegation to the funeral if it wishes.
Past leaders, including the man whose government condemned Kim to death, also paid tribute to Kim -- a towering figure in South Korea's long struggle for democracy against army-backed autocrats.
Kim campaigned strenuously against the 1961-1979 rule of dictator Park Chung-Hee and in August 1973 was kidnapped by agents of the Korean CIA from a Tokyo hotel.
He was about to be dumped in the sea but swift intervention by Washington and Tokyo saved his life.
In May 1980, during Chun Doo-Hwan's army-backed rule, Kim was thrown into prison on charges of treason. He was sentenced to death by a martial law court but reprieved following strong US pressure.
"I hope former President Kim, who underwent a stormy political life, will rest peacefully in the bosom of God," Chun told reporters of the devout Catholic.
A wave of mass street protests in 1987 ended decades of army-backed rule but Kim won the presidency only in 1997 on his fourth attempt.
He took office the following February at the height of the Asian economic crisis, which ravaged South Korea and forced it to seek a 57-billion-dollar bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
The man once branded by opponents as a communist won praise for working with international financial bodies to revive the economy and launch major reforms and corporate restructuring.
He never wavered on the need for reconciliation with North Korea, even though his "sunshine" engagement policy failed to halt its drive for nuclear weapons and its two atomic tests.
"This is the best way to end the national tragedy and make a reunified motherland," Kim said in his final speech in office.
In domestic politics, Kim also practised forgiveness. One of his first acts as president was to pardon Chun, who had been convicted of treason and corruption after leaving office.
"South Korea lost one of its greatest leaders today," the conservative ruling Grand National Party said in a statement.
"During his lifetime former president Kim dedicated himself to democracy, human rights and the development of relations between South and North Korea."
The main opposition Democratic Party described Kim as "the great teacher of the age."
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister currently visiting his homeland, plans to visit the hospital later to pay condolences, his aides said.
A temporary mourning altar is being set up at the hospital.
Kim is survived by his wife, Lee Hee-Ho, and three sons.
