Kim Dae-jung

South Korea state institutions Liberalism and republicanism 1924.1.6.–2009.8.18. ○ Natural death

Leader of the democracy movement and President of South Korea who took office in the IMF crisis

Born on Hauido island, Kim ran a shipping business before entering politics after the Korean War. As an opposition leader against the military dictatorships of the 1960s to 1980s he escaped death five times and endured prison, house arrest and exile. Elected amid the currency crisis in December 1997, he was president from 1998 to 2003; under the IMF agreement he carried out reforms of finance, corporations, labour and the public sector, and through the Tripartite Commission introduced redundancy dismissals and worker dispatch. His Sunshine Policy towards North Korea won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.