Former S. Korean President Kim has left behind an enduring legacy
(From The Japan Times Aug. 20 issue)

要約
平和･和解に献身した金大中元大統領

South Korea has lost a great political leader. Former President Kim Dae-jung died of multiple organ failure in a Seoul hospital Aug. 18 at the age of 85. The 2000 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who tirelessly promoted the cause of reconciliation and cooperation between the North and South, and played a critical role in the holding of the first inter-Korea summit in 2000, has left behind an enduring legacy.

While considered a shrewd political realist, Mr. Kim, as an opposition politician, was a man of indomitable spirit who never gave up even while being severely persecuted by successive authoritarian regimes. He spent six years in prison and lived for 40 years either under house arrest or in exile. His dedication to the struggle for democracy in South Korea was second to none.

He will also be remembered for his efforts to promote friendly ties between South Korea and Japan. In an October 1998 speech given at a banquet in the Japanese Imperial Court hosted by Emperor Akihito, he called for building new relations between South Korea and Japan for the 21st century. His push for the gradual opening of South Korea to Japanese popular culture ultimately led to a wide exchange of pop culture between the two countries that continues today.

Mr. Kim's life was as dramatic as any Hollywood movie. By the president's own reckoning he survived five life-and-death crises and was imprisoned six times.

In the April 1971 presidential election, Mr. Kim managed to garner 46 percent of the vote. But in the subsequent parliamentary election campaign his political foes carried out their first attempt on Mr. Kim's life. He and two aides were seriously injured when a truck rammed his car.

Another attempt on his life took place in 1973 while he was in exile. On Aug. 8, 1973, he was kidnapped from a Tokyo hotel by agents of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. The agents were about to throw him into the sea from a boat but desisted when a U.S. military helicopter made a low pass over the vessel. He was later placed under house arrest in Seoul.

In December 1997, he was elected president following three failed attempts in 1971, 1987 and 1992. His election marked the first change of power from the ruling party to the opposition party in South Korean political history.

When he took office in February 1998, his country was hard hit by the Asian financial crisis. He rigorously carried out structural reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund and the economy grew more than 10 percent in 1999.

President Kim's "Sunshine Policy" emphasized peaceful cooperation with the North, and included considerable humanitarian and economic aid. In June 2000, he flew to Pyongyang and held the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. They agreed to build a peaceful coexistence that was expected to lead to peaceful reunification.

Perhaps Mr. Kim's biggest honor came in December 2000 when the Nobel Committee awarded him the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize "for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular."

The administration of President Roh Moo-hyun continued Mr. Kim's Sunshine Policy. A railway connection between the North and South was reopened, and an industrial park funded with South Korean capital was established in the North's Kaesong area. Unfortunately, the relationship between the two Koreas has not developed as Mr. Kim envisioned, as evidenced by North Korea's nuclear tests in October 2006 and May 2009. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has adopted a hardline policy toward Pyongyang.

Although North Korea poses serious problems for regional security, all nations concerned, including Japan, should make concerted efforts to change the situation for the better by employing a trait that led Mr. Kim to the pinnacle of political success: perseverance.

金大中元大統領が多臓器不全のため85歳で死去した。2000年にノーベル平和賞を受賞した氏は、南北朝鮮の和解と協力に努めて首脳会談を実現、揺るぎない遺産を残した。したたかな現実主義者といわれた氏は、野党政治家として独裁政権に虐げられながらも不屈の精神を保ち、韓国民主化に比類ない献身を見せた。

1998年の来日では宮中晩餐会で天皇陛下を前に、21世紀に向けた新たな日韓関係の必要性を力説。日本大衆文化の段階的開放を進め、2国間の活発な交流を定着させた。

波乱に満ちた人生を送った氏は、生死の危機を5回乗り越え、6回収監された。挑戦4回目の97年に大統領に当選、韓国史上初の与野党の政権交代を実現した。アジア通貨危機直後の98年に就任し、IMF管理下での構造改革断行で、翌年に経済成長率10 % を記録した。

北朝鮮との平和的協力を強調した「太陽政策」は大規模な人道・経済支援を約束、2000年の訪朝では、平和的統一に向けた平和的共存体制の確立で金正日総書記と合意した。最大の栄誉は2000年のノーベル平和賞受賞だろう。「韓国と東アジア全体において民主主義と人権を追求した氏の業績、特に北朝鮮の平和と和解を求めた業績」への授与だと発表された。

盧武鉉政権は太陽政策を引き継いだが、北朝鮮は2006年と2009年に核実験を強行、金大中氏の望んだ南北関係は達成されず、李明博大統領は対北強硬政策をとった。

北朝鮮は地域の安全を脅かしているが、日本を含む関係諸国は、政治の頂点に上りつめた氏の粘り強さをもって状況改善に努めるべきだ。