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| Former President Kim Young-sam speaks during a meeting of the Democratic Liberal Party, the predecessor of the ruling Saenuri Party, in this October 1992 photo when he was head of the party. / Yonhap |
By Chung Hyun-chae
Former President Kim Young-sam, 87, made several achievements in the nation's political history.
Kim, who was born in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, on Dec. 20, 1927, was elected the nation's youngest lawmaker in 1954 when he was 25 years old. No-one younger has become a member of the National Assembly.
Kim was also elected for nine consecutive terms. This record is tied only with that of former National Assembly Speaker Park Jun-gyu and former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil.
Kim became the first Assemblyman to be expelled from the Assembly in 1979.
The ouster came after he gave an interview with the New York Times in which he criticized the Yushin Constitution, which laid the groundwork for then-President Park Chung-hee to extend his authoritarian rule.
His famous quote was, "Though the rooster is strangled, the dawn will arrive without fail."
On May 18, 1983, the third anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Movement occurred in Gwanju, Kim went on a 23-day hunger strike, demanding democratic reform.
After this, his political position was strengthened.
Kim was elected as Korea's 14th president in 1992 as the candidate of the Democratic Liberal party, uprooting the legacy of the military culture.
His election symbolized the end of decades of political struggle for full democracy. He became the first president with a non-military background in 32 years.
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