Dissident cheated death to win Presidency and Nobel prize

South Korean democracy campaigner Kim Dae-Jung survived assassination bids, a death sentence, prison and exile under army-backed governments and went on to win the Presidency and the Nobel peace prize.

Mr Kim, who died yesterday aged 83, said in 2006 he had no regrets about his turbulent life and had never compromised his principles.

"I underwent many ordeals in my life but I never strayed from principles and never compromised with injustice, even at the risk of my life," he said.

As President from 1998-2003, he described his biggest achievement as the landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in 2000 that paved the way for reconciliation and earned him a Nobel prize later that year.

Born on December 3, 1925 in a small village on an island off the southwest coast, Mr Kim graduated from a prestigious commercial high school in 1943.

He went into business operating a shipping company but was captured and almost executed by communists during the 1950-53 Korean War before escaping.

After the war he decided to enter politics in response to the increasingly dictatorial rule of founding President Syngman Rhee, who was forced out of office in 1960.

After two unsuccessful bids Mr Kim was elected to Parliament in 1961. But three days later the assembly was dissolved following a military coup led by Major General Park Chung-Hee. Major General Park, Mr Kim's nemesis for almost two decades, presided over dramatic economic development accompanied by increasing human rights abuses and dictatorial behaviour.

Mr Kim was again elected to Parliament in 1963 and began to emerge as a junior leader in the opposition.

A fiery orator, he became a presidential candidate in 1971 and almost defeated the incumbent Mr Park despite obstructionist tactics and vote-rigging.

Soon afterwards Mr Kim was almost killed in an apparent assassination attempt disguised as a road accident, which left him a permanent limp.

In 1972 Mr Park declared the Yushin (renovation) dictatorship and made himself President for life.

Mr Kim strenuously campaigned against Mr Park in the US and Japan. In August 1973 he was kidnapped by Korean CIA agents from a Tokyo hotel.

He was about to be dumped in the sea but swift action by Washington and Tokyo saved his life. He was returned to Seoul but put under house arrest a week later.

Despite being banned from political activities, Mr Kim in March 1976 joined other democracy fighters in leading a wave of demonstrations. He was jailed but released under house arrest in 1978.

When Mr Park was assassinated by the head of the Korean CIA in October 1979, Mr Kim and other opposition politicians were reinstated under a brief flowering of democracy.