His Excellency Dr Kim Dae-Jung
Dr Kim Dae-Jung was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from SOAS by special election in 1999, in recognition of his lifetime of work dedicated to Korea.
Born in a small Korean village on an island in 1925, he spent 30 years dedicating his life to politics and fighting against military dictatorships, being sentenced to death, abduction, imprisonment, exile and repeated house arrest.
Campaigning for democracy, Dr Kim's civil and political rights were eventually resorted and he ran for and was defeated in presidential elections in 1987 and 1992. In December 1997 he was elected to the Presidency, winning over 40 percent of the votes. When he was inaugurated as President of the Republic of Korea in 1998, it marked the first transition of power from the ruling to the opposition party in Korea's modern history. He then led a nationwide reformative drive across the financial, corporate, public and labour sectors. Dr Kim was a great promoter of democracy in Korea. He enacted civil right laws and pursued the "Sunshine Policy" with North Korea. In recognition of his work he was made a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 2000.
Since his retirement from the Presidency in 2003 Dr Kim Dae-Jung has worked as Chairman of the Kim Dae-Jung Peace Centre to promote peace and the reduction of poverty.
