Inter-Korean reunification activist Paek Ki-wan dies at 88
Lawmakers of Justice Party condole the death of Paek Ki-wan with a moment of silence during the party's meeting at the National Assembly on Feb. 15. Yonhap
Paek Ki-wan, who devoted his life to the reunification of the two Koreas, died Monday, hospital officials said. He was 88.
According to Seoul National University Hospital and his aides, Paek had been in the hospital since January of last year with symptoms of pneumonia.
Born in 1932 in what is now Unnyul in North Korea's South Hwanghae Province, Paek worked to educate the poor and farmers, as well as to reunify the divided peninsula.
In 1964, he protested against the signing of the treaty on basic relations between South Korea and Japan. In 1974, he was imprisoned while demonstrating against then-President Park Chung-hee's dictatorship.
In this photo from Aug. 15, 2008, Paek Ki-wan, who then was representing an institute for reunification of two Koreas, speaks during an event celebrating National Liberation Day and the 63rd anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial occupation at Press Center in Seoul's Jung District. Yonhap
Paek was also a well-known labor activist throughout his life.
In 1987, he dropped out of the presidential race. Five years later, he made another unsuccessful presidential bid as an independent.
After a brief, unsuccessful stint in politics, he founded an institute for reunification based on which he also launched various social and labor campaigns.
He wrote numerous novels, essays and poems, as well as the lyrics of "March for the Beloved," a famous pro-democracy movement anthem.
He was survived by his wife, three daughters and one son. (Yonhap)