Democracy fighter: 1927-2015

The late former President Kim Young-sam waves to people during a car parade after his inauguration ceremony in Seoul, on Feb. 25, 1993. / Yonhap

By Chung Hyun-chae

A calligraphy writing written by Kim, which was auctioned off at 5.2 million won in 2005. The writing, “Daedomumun,” means there is no gate for a big road, implying there is no obstacle to the right path. / Korea Times file

Former president Kim Young-sam was a democracy fighter during the dictatorial regimes of the 1970s and 1980s.

Kim was stripped of his seat in the National Assembly in 1979 when he was leader of the main opposition party. Then President Park Chung-hee’s military government led the expulsion, and ruling party lawmakers passed the bill.

He then made his most famous statement: “Though the rooster is strangled, the dawn will break without fail,” which meant the nation will be democratized despite the repressive forces against it.

After becoming the nation’s 14th president in 1993, he pledged to forge a “new Korea,” arguing that the country had been suffering from “Korean disease.”

“The new Korea cannot be built in a day but requires time and patience. We have to share the pain,” he said in his inaugural speech.

Kim led anti-corruption drives by introducing a landmark rule banning the use of false names for financial transactions.

In his first Cabinet meeting on Feb. 7, 1993, two days after his inauguration, he said, “We should change ourselves first. We should be corruption-free first. I am taking the lead and thus disclosing my assets.”

This was the first time that a President had publically disclosed details of his personal wealth.

Kim made some open remarks on international relations.

“I’ll teach Japan some manners,” he said in 1995 as some Japanese leaders claimed over Dokdo islets and justified Japanese colonial rule.

However, he will be remembered as the President who accepted the humiliating IMF bailout program in 1997.