By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
The late President Kim Dae-jung left 1.26 billion won ($1.09 million) to his family, an official of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center said Friday.
In a written report to a district tax office in Seoul, Kim's bereaved family said the former President's assets reached 1.37 billion won before paying off a debt of 110 million won.
His wife, Lee Hee-ho, and three sons inherited the money. Lee received 800 million won, while his sons took the remaining 460 million won, Choi Kyung-hwan, the spokesman of the center, said.
They paid a combined 5.4 million won in inheritance tax.
Lee plans to spend the inheritance to support projects that cherish the spirit of her deceased husband, a life-long pro-democracy leader, Choi said.
"Of the 1.1 billion won that he received with the Nobel Peace Prize, he donated 300 million won to the Kim Dae-jung Library in Yonsei University, leaving 800 million won," Choi said.
The spokesman expressed hope that the clarification submitted to the tax office would serve to wipe out groundless rumors regarding the amount of assets the late President left.
Kim passed away at the age of 85 last August after a month-long battle with pneumonia and other related complications.
He served as president from 1998 to 2003 during which he held the first inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
After the summit in June 2000, he won the Nobel Peace Prize later that year in recognition of his lifelong fight for democracy and reconciliation between the two Koreas.