Former President Kim Young-sam, who formally ended decades of military rule in South Korea and accepted a massive worldwide bailout during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, has died.
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During his presidency, he had his two predecessors indicted on mutiny and treason charges stemming from a coup.
Kim died this morning from what is believed to be acute heart failure and a blood infection after being hospitalised Nov 19 for high fever, Oh Byung Hee, chief of Seoul National University Hospital, said at a televised briefing.
Former President Kim Young-sam takes the oath during his inauguration on February 25, 1993 (file photo). But he was accused of mismanaging the economy during the Asian financial crisis that toppled a few of the country’s debt-ridden conglomerates and forced the government to accept a US$58 billion bailout from the worldwide Monetary Fund.
Kim Young Sam said after stepping down as president that he had helped convince the U.S. government of Bill Clinton not to attack North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex in 1994.
Likewise, former President Chun Doo Hwan – whom Kim pardoned after the former dictator was sentenced to death – released a statement about Kim’s passing.
South Korea’s military has in the past staged live-fire exercises near the Yellow Sea border around the anniversary as a show of strength.
“They should not dig their own graves with war drumbeats for the preemptive strike against the DPRK but draw a lesson from the bitter defeat they suffered five years ago”, the military command spokesman said.
Born in December 1927 on the southern island of Geojedo, Kim was elected to the National Assembly at age 26, which still marks the youngest elected as an assemblyman, in 1954.
During his presidency, he was credited with disbanding military faction, abolishing bank accounts held under aliases, and launching a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown. He belonged to the ruling party of Syngman Rhee, South Korea’s first president, but he left over a constitutional revision and joined the opposition, drawing anger from military rulers. He was punished by the country’s ruling regime at the time, and was expelled from the National Assembly for “anti-government activities” in 1979, according to the Korea Herald.
During the chaotic period, Maj.
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Kim is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters. In 1992, Kim became Korea’s 14th president after forging an alliance with his political opponents and defeating his fellow activist and rival Kim Dae-jung.
