Kim Dae-jung

South Korean politician and 15th president. Born December 3rd in Muan, South Jeolla Province. After liberation in 1945, he became a local youth activist with the National Founding Preparatory Committee, and in 1950 became president of Mokpo Ilbo. He dropped out of Konkuk University. He became a member of the People's Assembly in 1961, but was ousted in the same year by the military revolution. From 1967 onwards, he played an active role as a senior member of the New Democratic Party, and ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in the 7th presidential election in 1971, beating Democratic Republican Party candidate Park Chung-hee, but narrowly lost. In 1972, he defected to Japan when martial law was declared in Korea, and he engaged in anti-Park movements in the United States and Japan. He was abducted in Japan in August 1973 (Showa 48) and appeared in Seoul (Kim Dae-jung incident). He became a symbol of the anti-Park movement both at home and abroad. He was arrested in May 1980 for plotting to overthrow the government and sentenced to death in September of the same year, but as international opinion in favor of his rescue grew, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in January 1981, immediately after it was finalized. His sentence was later commuted to 20 years, and he was released in December 1982 and traveled to the United States, where he became an active critic of the Chun Doo-hwan administration and the Japanese government. He returned to South Korea in February 1985, was allowed to engage in political activities in March, and had his civil rights restored in 1987. In 1992, he ran for president as a candidate for the Democratic Party, but lost to Kim Young-sam and announced his retirement from politics. He studied in the UK and founded the Asia-Pacific Peace Foundation. He returned to politics in 1995 and founded the National Congress for New Politics. He won the 1997 presidential election and became the 15th president in 1998. In October 1998, he visited Japan for the first time since the abduction incident (Kim Dae-jung incident), met with Prime Minister Obuchi, and signed the joint declaration "A New Japan-Korea Partnership for the 21st Century." He also adopted a policy of embrace toward North Korea (the Sunshine Policy), announcing the Berlin Declaration, which included the idea of ​​a North-South Economic Community and government-level economic assistance for North Korea. He then visited Pyongyang, North Korea, from June 13 to 15, 2000, and held the first North-South summit since the division of the Korean Peninsula with Kim Jong-il, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, where they agreed to work toward the unification of North and South Korea and signed a joint declaration. He retired as president in February 2003 when his term expired. In 2000, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

[Momo Tamaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

韓国（大韓民国）の政治家。第15代大統領。12月3日全羅南道(ぜんらなんどう／チョルラナムド)務安に生まれる。1945年解放後、建国準備委員会の地方青年活動家となり、1950年木浦(もくほ／モクポ)日報社長となる。建国大学中退。1961年民議院議員となるが、同年軍事革命により失脚。1967年以降新民党幹部となって活躍し、1971年第7代大統領選挙に新民党候補として出馬し、民主共和党朴正煕(ぼくせいき／パクチョンヒ)候補と争い惜敗。1972年、来日時に韓国非常戒厳令にあい亡命し、アメリカ・日本で反朴運動を展開した。1973年（昭和48）8月日本で拉致(らち)されソウルに出現（金大中事件）。内外の反朴運動のシンボルとなった。1980年5月政府転覆を図ったとして逮捕、同年9月死刑判決を受けたが、救援の国際世論の高まるなかで、1981年1月死刑確定直後に無期懲役に減刑された。のち懲役20年に減刑、1982年12月釈放されて渡米、以後全斗煥(ぜんとかん／チョンドファン)政権・日本政府批判の言論を活発に展開した。1985年2月帰国し、3月政治活動を解禁され、1987年に公民権を回復した。1992年民主党候補として大統領選挙に出馬したが、金泳三(きんえいさん／キムヨンサム)に敗れて政界引退を声明。イギリスに遊学し、アジア太平洋平和財団を結成する。1995年政界に復帰して新政治国民会議を結成。1997年大統領選挙に勝利を収め、1998年第15代大統領に就任した。1998年（平成10）10月、拉致事件（金大中事件）以後初めて訪日、小渕首相と会談、共同宣言「21世紀に向けた新たな日韓パートナーシップ」に署名した。また北朝鮮に対しては、南北経済共同体の構想や、政府レベルでの対北経済支援を盛り込んだベルリン宣言を発表するなど、対北朝鮮包容政策（太陽政策）をとった。そして2000年6月13～15日、北朝鮮の平壌(ピョンヤン)を訪れ、朝鮮労働党総書記金正日(きんしょうにち／キムジョンイル)と朝鮮半島分断後初の南北首脳会談を行い、南北統一への取り組みに合意、共同宣言に署名した。2003年2月大統領を任期満了につき退任。2000年ノーベル平和賞受賞。

［玉城　素］

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