Former 7-term lawmaker dies

Lee Chul-seung

By Kang Seung-woo

Lee Chul-seung, a former seven-term lawmaker who was a political rival of former presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, died early on Saturday. He was 94.

After Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in 1945, Lee, a Seoul native, led a student union that opposed a trusteeship, under which Korea would be governed by foreign powers after World War II, and entered politics in 1954 after winning a parliamentary seat.

In 1955, Lee created the Democratic Party, but he was exiled overseas after the May 16 coup in 1961 carried out by former President Park Chung-hee.

Lee also competed with two other former presidents, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung during the presidential primary of the New Democratic Party in 1970.

After his final term at the National Assembly ended in 1988, Lee led various organizations, including the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation.