By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Dae-jung, 85, was put on a respirator at a Seoul hospital due to irregular breathing but is not in a serious condition, his doctor said Thursday.
"The President was put on a breathing machine around 3 a.m. Wednesday as he became short of breath," a spokesman for Yonsei University's Severance Hospital in Seoul said.
"He is not in a critical condition at the moment. Vital signs are all normal," the spokesman said.
Kim, who served as head of state between 1998 and 2003, was hospitalized Monday and transferred to an intensive care unit after being diagnosed with pneumonia.
Park Chang-il, head of the hospital, said, "He is not in a serious condition but intensive monitoring of his health condition is necessary for the next few days. He is fed a liquid meal through a tube and given sedatives so that he does not feel uncomfortable with the respirator."
Rep. Park Jie-won said the former head of state has not been in good shape since the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun on May 23.
But he talked with Kim on Wednesday morning, and said that it was totally groundless to say that he was in a critical condition.
His family members are on standby inside the hospital.
In 2005, Kim was hospitalized after showing symptoms of a cold and fever.
He has been recognized as a life-long pro-democracy leader in the country, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 after holding the first-ever summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Kim created the Sunshine Policy, an approach that emphasized engagement with the communist North.