I remember when I was a kid, and still lived in Korea, that I saw from TV people from North Korea crossing the border to see their relatives in South Korea. They all cried, and some cried harder because their relatives have died or could not be found. I tried to imagine how it would feel if I was separated from my family by some stupid line. Impossible.
As a simple-minded kid, I saw no point on seeing your family if you are only allowed to see them for 5minutes before you are dragged back to your side. But I also saw that those people feel different from me, and they are grateful for the event that Kim Dae-jung provided for them. I became aware of him for the first time. He was the first president of Korea I have become aware of.
At the time I believed that Kim Dae-jung will soon reunite Korea so that I could climb Mt.Kum-gang and hear the North Korean dialect. I worried about who will become the President if the two sides reunited; Kim Dae-jung or Kim Il-sung.
But the excitement soon died away, and as far as I know, Kim Dae-jung could not do anything more about the relationship between North Korea and South Korea. Later I realized that this issue is not as simple as I thought. Nevertheless, I was a little disappointed in Kim Dae-jung.
-Kim Dae-Jung’s Failed Legacy
It was after his death I found out that he has won the Novel Peace Prize, has been kidnapped and survived several assassinations. His Sunshine policy was praised even by President Obama, and surprising amount of awareness was on his death.
-Kim Dae-jung, former South Korean president, dies aged 85
-YouTube - Former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung dies
Unlike Roh Moo-hyun, a former President of Korea who has killed himself not long ago, Kim Dae-jung has died from respiratory distress, at the age of 85. Both Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung were thought to have been great Presidents, and I too, think that they both deserve respect and sorrow from people. Whether they really were great or not, at least they tried to improve Korea.
Here’s Kim Dae-jung’s Biography:
Kim Dae-jung - Biography
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Interesting blog - check out:
ReplyDeletehttp://dyls-korealosesitschampionofpeace.blogspot.com/
This is Dylan's blog on the same subject - it would be good to provide a link to his blog in your sidebar
Hi, You know its funny, i also remember watching that on the news, when they did their first flight from South Korea to North Korea, At the time i didn't know much about the problems with north and south but i knew that that peace was always good and although those people from the North and South only met for a few minutes, for them those few minutes will last a lifetime. the thing i really admired about Kim Dae-Jung is that he always gave it his all and he never gave up
ReplyDeletehi sora
ReplyDeletePlease comment me on my new blog as my old blog is not working
http://gurbinder-iwrite-2009.blogspot.com/
Kim really deserves the respect and honour as he tried his best to reunite North Korea and South Korea.Kim had lots of ups and downs in his life but he never gave up.
ReplyDeleteHey I am just wondering why Roh Moo-hyun, a has killed himself?
Yes, He should be praised. He had made a number of positive attempts to solve the conflicts.
ReplyDeleteRo moo-hyun killed himself out of depression, because people were accusing him of bad acts such as receiving illegal money etc.
ReplyDeleteI cannot really comment beacause i don't know this guy, however, was he found quilty or did he die before that?
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