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Kim Dae-jung
The late President |
The late former President Kim Dae-jung was picked by Newsweek magazine as one of 36 noteworthy people who died in 2009.
"For nearly four decades, he was a dissident antagonist of the harsh, corrupt military leaders who had run South Korea since the'50s. He survived exile, jailings, beatings, death threats, and kidnapping before winning the presidency of South Korea in 1997, using his term in office to promote reconciliation with the North, efforts that won him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2000," it reported.
Kim, a towering figure in modern Korean politics for his distinctive role in the promotion of democracy, inter-Korean reconciliation and human rights, passed away at a Seoul hospital on Aug. 18. He was 85.
Kim, who had been hospitalized with pneumonia and other complications since the previous month, died around 1:43 p.m., said Lee Sung-man, a spokesman for Yonsei University's Severance Hospital.
Another notable figure on the list is Edward Kennedy. Newsweek wrote,"He weathered enormous tragedy, some of it of his own making, and it tempered him, spurring him to grow beyond his older brothers' shadows. More than 300 bills bearing his name were enacted into law." It quoted Sen. Robert Byrd saying: "Ted Kennedy would have been a leader, an outstanding senator, at any period in the nation's history."
Michael Jackson also featured. "We'll never know whether Michael understood Michael the way we did. Did he know how freakishly talented we thought he was. And how his talent for being a freak impressed us almost as much?" the magazine said.
chojh@koreatimes.co.kr
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