Dear editor,
The death of Nobel Laureate Kim Dae-jung has been headline news in England and around the world. When I read more about him in newspaper obituaries here in London, I was struck by the setbacks and struggles he had had to overcome over his lifetime.
This included periods in prison, for example in 1980-82, after the Gwangju massacre when he was sentenced to death, at least five attempts on his life and repeated defeats in presidential elections (in 1987 and 1992).
Kim Dae-jung's eventual election to the presidency in 1997, his management of the economy following the Asian financial crisis and the success of his Sunshine Policy of active engagement with North Korea represent a remarkable triumph against adversity.
I first became aware of the Korean struggle for democracy watching TV in England in 1987. It was the run-up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics: the South Korean government's record on human rights had become a major international issue and the struggle for democracy by Kim and other figures in Korea was fully covered by both TV and newspapers in Britain.
Shouvik Datta
London