Former First Lady Tells Bittersweet Memory
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Quite often, a wife's assistance is necessary for a successful husband. But Lee Hee-ho, 86, the wife of former President Kim Dae-jung, epitomizes her 46-year life with her husband as being a good ``companion'' rather than just a helper.
The former First Lady said that's why she named her new autobiography ``Companion.'' She was a former First Lady but at the same time an individual feminist activist.
``We have respected each other as good fellows. We hang two nameplates side by side on our front door, which symbolizes us. I think we are the first to do it in our age. We have discussed everything together,'' Lee told reporters in a press conference.
She said that her book not only sums up her life full of vicissitudes in modern history from the Japanese colonial era (1910-45), the Korean War (1950-53) to the politically turbulent period in the 1960-80s, but also introduces the stories of people who sacrificed their lives for democracy.
``As a person who experienced historical moments, I want to introduce the stories young people today don't know about,'' she said.
The 86-year-old Lee recalled the memory the bitterest moment as being the time when Kim was sentenced to death in the 1980s under the Chun Doo-hwan military regime while she was under house arrest.
Also, she recalled her most glorious moment when Kim was finally elected President in 1997 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.
Born into a rich family in 1922, Lee's life turned tumultuous after she first met Kim, a poor but promising politician in 1951. At that time, Lee was an active leading advocate fighting for women's rights through various civic groups such as the YWCA.
She writes that he proposed marriage to her in Pagoda Park in Jongno, central Seoul, which she faintly remembered, was in ``political and logical words.''
``For him, politics was a way of making his dream come true and also a reason for being, while for me, it was a way of making an equal and harmonious society for both men and women. Rather than a burning love between a man and a woman, a deep trust about each other's dream was a knot tying me and him,'' she said.
In 1962, she married Kim, who lost his former wife with two sons, despite the opposition of people around her. ``I can't remember clearly. But I thought this extraordinary man's dream should not end just as a dream,'' she says in the book.
But prior to meeting Kim, she confesses to having thought about marrying a student activist named Gye Hun-je, before she went to the United States to study in the middle of the Korean War (1950-53). She says that she has felt guilty since she didn't stay beside a man who was sick at that time and chose to study abroad.
She gives an impressive account of when Kim brought the couple's doorplates, which was his idea to show the equal status between the couple to make a good family together.
Lee is a devout Protestant while Kim is a Catholic, but they have never forced others to follow their religion. ``Although the two sectors have the same root, we pursued a different pious life. When we have a meal, he crosses and I bow and pray. He goes to Seogyo Catholic Church and I go to Changcheon Church every Sunday,'' she said.
Her life was intertwined with the political turmoil around Kim when the late President Park Chung-hee took power in a military coup. After Kim won a seat at the National Assembly in 1963 and 1967 and rose to be an eminent opposition leader, he faced numerous threats, torture, imprisonment and kidnapping.
Kim was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo in 1973 and almost was killed due to his activities against Park's iron-fisted rule. After Chun Doo-hwan took power, Kim was arrested and sentenced to death on charges of sedition and conspiracy.
During his decades-old fight against the dictatorship for democracy, Lee was never daunted and instead built up the support from people both at home and abroad.
Under harsh censorship, they exchanged the letters secretly when he was arrested or imprisoned. Sometimes she sent a letter through messengers who were foreign reporters or hid the letters written in a piece of napkin or toilet paper in parts of his clothes.
The letters include not only the family affairs but also philosophical, theological and political debates along with her strong encouragement for her he husband's activity for democracy.
Whenever Kim was behind the bars, she sent books and newspapers to his prison, as he loved reading and studying.
``I collected newspapers including English language newspapers because it was important to grasp the U.S.'s viewpoints on the international situation … This later became a good basis for the campaign to save his life in international society whenever he was in danger of losing his life,'' she said.
She expresses her personal impressions of Chun when she met him. ``He was facing the wife of a political enemy he was trying to kill through a death sentence but he treated me casually as a realtor talks to a client. It was odd when he was talking to me, he rolled up his pants to scratch his leg.''
Even after Kim was elected President and they moved to Cheong Wa Dae, she was humble despite her position. She said that the first lady in Cheong Wa Dae is the only person who was not elected nor appointed, adding that she had no authority ruled by the law but could play an official and unofficial role.
``The first Lady has no fixed role. As I was there (Cheong Wa Dae) because my husband was elected by the people, I focused on activities for human rights and social services,'' she said.
Along with the glorious moments of the husband's presidency and the Nobel Peace Prize, she also deals with her thoughts on her sons being indicted on corruption charges in the later part of the book.
Lee earned a bachelor's degree in education from Seoul National University and a master's degree in sociology in the United States.
After getting her master's degree, she continued to study at three other universities in the United States and one in Japan, gaining honorary degrees.
She joined various female activity groups, including the Young Women's Christian Association in Seoul and the Korean National Council of Women.
She was recognized for her devotion and received many awards, including the ``Woman of the Year'' award in 1984 from the State of California.