Kim Dae-jung, ex- President of South Korea, who had been hospitalized with pneumonia since last month, has died. He died shortly after 1:40 PM at the age of 85.
During his years as a dissident, Kim Dae-jung survived multiple assassination attempts and a death sentence and went on to become president of South Korea from 1998-2003. His efforts to reconcile with communist North Korea earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy" was instituted as a way of reaching out to North Korea and encourage reconciliation. It culminated in a historic North-South summit and a jubilant meeting in Pyongyang with leader Kim Jong Il in 2000.
However, while his successor, the late President Roh Moo-hyun, maintained the Sunshine Policy, further successor and conservative President Lee Myung-bak in 2007 broke ranks when he conditioned aid to the North on that regime's commitment to nuclear disarmament.
Still, following news of Kim Dae-jung's death on Tuesday, South Korea's ruling Grand National Party issued a statement saying the nation had lost "one of its greatest leaders". To the very end, he was striving for reconciliation with N. Korea. In January, he said:
"The South and North have never been free from mutual fear and animosity over the past half-century, not even for a single day. When we cooperate, both Koreas will enjoy peace and economic prosperity."
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