Former South Korean President Kim Young-sam dead at 87

Earlier in the day, the South Korean Ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, mourned the death of the former president, calling him an important figure who “had laid the foundation stone for Korea-China relations”.

In the year 1954, Kim Young-sam was elected as the youngest member of the National Assembly of South Korea.

But in 1979, his anti-government activities and opposition to then-President Park Chung-hee resulted in Kim’s expulsion from the legislative chamber. Riots and protests ensued, and all 66 opposition members of the assembly resigned.

For his part in the pro-democracy movement, he was placed under house arrest twice in the 1980s. He was elected as the President of South Korea at the age of 26 in the year 1992.

“We have created a truly civilian government”. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.

The widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam’s successor and political rival, also visited the hospital to pay her respects. He also had his two predecessors, Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae Woo, indicted on treason and mutiny charges for their involvement in a coup and bloody crackdown against anti- government protesters in Gwangju in 1980.

As president, he led South Korea in 1994 when President Bill Clinton’s administration was considering attacking Nyongbyon – home to North Korea’s nuclear complex – north of communist North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang. The two countries eventually defused tensions after a series of talks.

The drill was carried out around front-line islands in the Yellow Sea to mark the anniversary of North Korea’s deadly shelling of one of them five years ago, the South’s defence ministry said.

At the same time, the economy sank in Southeast Asia financial crisis.

During his presidency, he was credited with disbanding military faction, abolishing bank accounts held under aliases, and launching a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown.

Kim was born into a rich fishing family on December 20th, 1927, on Goeje Island off the southeastern coast of Korea, while the country was still under Japanese colonial rule.