Kim Young-sam
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Kim Young-sam | |
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김영삼 金泳三 | |
7th President of South Korea | |
In office 25 February 1993 – 24 February 1998 | |
Prime Minister | Hwang In-sung Lee Hoi-chang Lee Yung-dug Lee Hong-koo Lee Soo-sung Goh Kun |
Preceded by | Roh Tae-woo |
Succeeded by | Kim Dae-jung |
President of the New Korea Party | |
In office 28 August 1992 – 30 September 1997 | |
Preceded by | Roh Tae-woo |
Succeeded by | Lee Hoi-chang |
President of the Reunification Democratic Party | |
In office 12 May 1988 – 22 January 1990 | |
Preceded by | Kim Myung-yoon |
Succeeded by | Office abolished (party merger into DLP) |
In office 1 May 1987 – 8 February 1988 | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Kim Myung-yoon |
President of the New Democratic Party | |
In office 7 June 1979 – 27 October 1980 | |
Preceded by | Lee Chul-seung |
Succeeded by | Office abolished (party dissolution) |
In office 21 August 1974 – 21 September 1976 | |
Preceded by | Kim Eui-taek |
Succeeded by | Lee Chul-seung |
Member of the National Assembly | |
In office 30 May 1992 – 13 October 1992 | |
Constituency | Proportional Representation |
In office 30 May 1988 – 29 May 1992 | |
Constituency | Seo (Busan) |
In office 29 July 1960 – 4 October 1979 (expelled) | |
Constituency | Seo (Busan) |
In office 31 May 1954 – 30 May 1958 | |
Constituency | Geoje (South Gyeongsang) |
Personal details | |
Born | Geoje, Geojedo, Keishōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan | 20 December 1927
Died | 22 November 2015 Seoul, South Korea | (aged 87)
Resting place | Seoul National Cemetery |
Political party | See list
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Spouse | |
Children | 6 |
Alma mater | Seoul National University (BA) |
Religion | Presbyterianism (GAPCK) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | South Korea |
Branch/service | Republic of Korea Army |
Rank | Student officer |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 김영삼 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Gim Yeongsam |
McCune–Reischauer | Kim Yŏngsam |
Art name | |
Hangul | 거산 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Geosan |
McCune–Reischauer | Kŏsan |
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in South Korea |
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This article is part of a series on |
Liberalism in South Korea |
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Kim Young-sam (Korean: 김영삼; Hanja: 金泳三; Korean pronunciation: [ki.mjʌŋ.sam] or [kim] [jʌŋ.sam]; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the 7th (14th election) president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998.
From 1961, he spent almost 30 years as one of the leaders of the South Korean opposition, and one of the most powerful rivals to the authoritarian regimes of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan. He was elected to the National Assembly at the age of 25, the youngest person in Korean history, and served as a nine-term lawmaker, working as a leader with Kim Dae-jung and the democratic camp. His nickname is Geosan (巨山) and his hometown is Gimnyeong (金寧). Elected as president in the 1992 presidential election, Kim became the first civilian to hold the office in over 30 years. He was inaugurated on 25 February 1993, and served a single five-year term, presiding over a massive anti-corruption campaign, the arrest of his two predecessors, and an internationalization policy called Segyehwa.
At the final years of his presidency, Kim had been widely blamed for the
Early life and education
Kim was born on 14 January 1929 in
Early political career
In 1954, Kim was elected to the
In 1969, Kim fiercely opposed the constitutional revision to allow President Park to serve for three consecutive terms. Kim later opposed President Park's power grab with the authoritarian Yushin Constitution of 1972.[6]
In 1971, Kim made his first attempt to run for president against Park as candidate for the opposition New Democratic Party, but Kim Dae-jung was selected as the candidate.
New Democratic Party leader
In 1974, he was elected as the president of the New Democratic Party. While he temporarily lost his power within the national assembly in 1976, Kim made a political comeback during the final year of Park Chung-hee's rule. Kim took a hardline policy of never compromising or cooperating with Park's Democratic Republican Party until the Yushin Constitution was repealed and boldly criticized Park's dictatorship, which could be punished with imprisonment under the new constitution.[7]
In August 1979, Kim allowed around 200 female workers at the Y.H. Trading Company to use the headquarters of New Democratic Party as a place for their sit-in demonstration and pledged to protect them. One thousand policemen raided the party headquarters and arrested the workers.
When Kim called on the United States to stop supporting Park's dictatorship in an interview with the
When it became known that the South Korean government was planning to accept the resignations selectively, uprisings broke out in Kim's hometown of
House arrest
The government's oppressive stance towards the opposition continued under Chun Doo-hwan, who seized power with a military coup on 12 December 1979. Kim Young-Sam was expelled from the National Assembly for his democratic activities and banned from politics from 1980 to 1985. In May 1983, he undertook a 21-day hunger strike protesting the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan.[13]
Failed presidential run: 1987
When the first democratic presidential election was held in 1987 after Chun's retirement, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung ran against each other, splitting the opposition vote and enabling ex-general Roh Tae-woo, Chun's hand-picked successor, to win the election. This was also despite support from the first female presidential candidate, Hong Sook-ja, who resigned her candidacy in order to support Kim.[14]
Merged with the ruling party: 1990-92
On January 22, 1990, he merged his Democratic Reunification Party with Roh's ruling
Presidency (1993–98)
As the candidate of the governing party,[1] he defeated Kim Dae-jung and businessman Chung Ju-yung, the boss of the chaebol group Hyundai in the 1992 presidential election. He was the first civilian elected to a full term since 1960.
Reforms
The Kim Young-sam administration attempted to reform the government and the economy. One of the first acts of his government was to start an anti-corruption campaign, which began at the very top, as Kim promised not to use political
, the large South Korean conglomerates which dominated the economy.Kim's government required government and military officials to publish their financial records and introduced the “real-name” financial transaction system across the country,[13] which made it difficult to open bank accounts under false names, precipitating the resignation of several high-ranking officers and cabinet members. This also made it difficult for chaebols to seek government favours by remitting money to politicians and officials under false and anonymous names, drastically curbing such practices.[15] He had his two predecessors as president, Chun and Roh, arrested and indicted on charges of corruption and treason for their role in military coups, although they would be pardoned near the end of his term on advice of president-elect Kim Dae-jung.[1] Kim did not stop there, his administration pursued chaebol bosses who paid these bribes to Chun and Roh, most prominently Lee Kun-hee of Samsung and Kim Woo-choong of Daewoo were prosecuted, although Lee's sentence was suspended and Kim did not serve his sentence.
Kim also purged politically minded generals of the Hanahoe clique to which Chun and Roh belonged; until that point, the clique had continued to be deeply engaged in policymaking. Thus, Hanahoe was disbanded and the depoliticization of the military began under Kim.[13]
Kim also granted amnesty to 41,000 political prisoners in March 1993 just after taking office,
However, Kim's anti-corruption message was damaged after his son was arrested for bribery and tax evasion related to the Hanbo scandal.[1]
Economy
Kim was critical of the influence of chaebols on Korean society in the early 1990s, but was a firm believer in deregulation that heavily empowered "small[-] and medium-sized firms."[17] During his administration, Kim viewed chaebols that monopolized importing certain resources or products and/or predominated certain markets they were "large enterprises" in as outdated parts of the era before his presidency and empowered by lax policies from the prior governments.[17]
In addition to curbing corrupt practices of the chaebols, Kim encouraged them to become leaner and more competitive to succeed in the global economy, in contrast to the state-directed economic growth model of the preceding decades. Chaebols were criticized at that time for inefficiency and a lack of specialization.[18] Kim released his "100-Day Plan for the New Economy" for immediate economic reform, intended to decrease inflation and eliminate corporate corruption. Another Five-Year Plan was also implemented, to encourage foreign investment as part of Kim's internationalization and economic liberalism strategy. By 1996, per capita GNP exceeded US$10,000.[19]
North Korea
In 1994, when American president
Japan
Kim took an upfront and straightforward attitude in his diplomacy toward Japan, with his quote “We will teach them to have manners once and for all,” referring to Japanese politicians who defended Japan’s wartime atrocities from annexation to the end of World War II.[20]
Kim's government undersaw the highly public demolition of the
1997 IMF Crisis
Kim spent his final year in office, with the nation saddled and plagued by an economic crisis.
By 1996 and 1997, the banking sector was burdened with
In the wake of the Asian market downturn, Moody's lowered the
On 22 November 1997, Kim in a televised address to the nation, apologised and called for the nation to tighten its belts. He blamed companies for borrowing too much, workers for demanding too much pay and conceded that his government did not implement strong reforms on its own due to pressure from special interest groups.[25] As a result, Kim became the most unpopular president in history with an approval rating of 6%, until Park Geun-hye broke this record with a 5% rating in 2016 before her impeachment.[26] This is until she reached a record low of 1 to 3%.
On 3 December 1997, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to provide US$58.4 billion as a bailout package.[27] In return, Korea was required to take restructuring measures.[28] In addition, the Korean government started financial sector reform program. Under the program, 787 insolvent financial institutions were closed or merged by June 2003.[29]
The
Later life and post-presidency (1998-2015)
Kim could not run for re-election under provisions of the constitution of the ROK, which limits the presidential tenure to a single and consecutive five-year. His term ended on 24 February 1998, and he was succeeded by his political rival Kim Dae-jung who defeated the ruling conservative party in the 1997 South Korean presidential election. This marked the first peaceful transition of power from one president to another from an opposition party in South Korea's history.
From April 2002 to 2007, he dedicated himself to research, taking up a position as a Distinguished Professor at Waseda University where he had previously (1994) received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.[30]
After his presidency, Kim traveled the world promoting democracy, and speaking at events such as Towards a Global Forum on New Democracies in Taiwan in January 2007.[31] After retiring, President Kim Young-sam spent his later years at his private residence in Sangdo-dong.
Death
Kim died in Seoul National University Hospital on 22 November 2015, from heart failure at the age of 87.[1][4][32] He was survived by his children, two sons and three daughters, as well as his five younger sisters.[31]
On 26 November 2015, a televised state funeral was held for Kim at the National Assembly lawn, during which Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn delivered the opening remarks.[32] Later that day, Kim was buried in the Seoul National Cemetery near former presidents Syngman Rhee, Park Chung Hee and Kim Dae-jung.[32]
Legacy
In the aftermath of the 1997 IMF crisis, Kim suffered from low approval ratings for many years. However, following his death, public interest in his achievements during the democratization movement as well as his presidency grew, and he began to be reevaluated in the media. In a contemporary public survey of past presidents from Gallup Korea, the percentage of those responding that Kim "did many good things" jumped from 16% in 2015 to 40% in 2023, and those saying that he "did many wrong things" fell from 42% to 30% over the same time period. This narrowly placed him among the few past presidents whose positive ratings exceeded negative ratings (the others being Park Chung-hee, Kim Dae-jung, and Roh Moo-hyun). Kim also differed from the more ideologically polarized ratings of other presidents by showing a remarkably similar evaluation between supporters of the two major parties, as well as between self-described conservatives, moderates, and progressives.[33]
Similarly, in contrast to the years following his presidency, when Kim was seen as something of an embarrassment for many
Personal life
Kim was a member of the Chunghyun Presbyterian Church and was fluent in Japanese in addition to his native language, Korean. He was married to Son Myung-soon.[36] He had six children: Kim Hye-young (daughter, born 1952), Kim Hye-jeong (daughter, born 1954), Kim Eun-chul (son, born 1956), Kim Hyun-chul (son, born 1959), Kim Sang-man (extramarital son, born 1959), and Kim Hye-sook (daughter, born 1961).
When he was in office, his public speeches were the subject of much scrutiny and his pronunciation of Gyeongsang dialect elicited both criticism and amusement. He once mistakenly pronounced '경제 (Gyeongje, 經濟: meaning 'economy')' as '갱제 (Gaengje: a Gyeongsang pronunciation of the older generation for '경제')' and '외무부 장관 (oemubu-janggwan, 外務部長官: meaning 'foreign minister')' as '애무부 장관 (aemubu-janggwan, 愛撫部長官: meaning 'making out minister')'. A humorous anecdote arose from another of his public speeches where audiences were said to have been surprised to hear that he would make Jeju a world-class 'rape' (관광, 觀光 [gwan gwang, tourism] > 강간, 強姦 [gang-gan, rape]) city by building up an 'adultery' (관통하는, 貫通- [gwantonghaneun, going-through]) > 간통하는, 姦通- [gantonghaneun, adulterous]) motorway.[37]
Awards
National honours
- South Korea:
- Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa'
- First Class of the Order of Merit for National Foundation
- Order of Civil Merit
- First Class of the Order of Military Merit
- First Class of the Order of National Security Merit
- Grand Gwanghwa Medal of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit
Foreign honours
- Malaysia:
- Honorary Recipient of the Order of the Crown of the Realm
- Peru:
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru
- Philippines:
- Grand Collar of the Order of Sikatuna[38]
- Poland:
- Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
- South Africa:
- Grand Cross of the Order of Good Hope
- Spain:
- Collar of the Order of Civil Merit
- Ukraine:
- Second Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kim, Hyung-Jin (23 November 2015). "Kim Young Sam: South Korean president ended years of military rule". The Globe and Mail. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "Kim Young Sam Facts". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ 김영삼 대통령의 군 복무 사진 첫 공개
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Former South Korean President Kim Young-Sam Dies at 87". ABC News. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ "Kim remembered as democracy fighter, economic reformer". 22 November 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ a b Breen, Michael (19 October 2011). "Kim Young-sam: the man who would be president". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ISBN 027595823X.
- ^ JSTOR 2657739. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Breen, Michael (15 February 2012). "Inner circle collapses: Kim Jae-gyu and Cha Ji-cheol". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ISBN 978-0674058200.
- ^ ISBN 978-0742567139.
- ^ a b c "Former President Kim Young-sam dies at age 87". The Korea Herald. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ Holley, David (6 December 1987). "Kim Young Sam Gets Backing of Only Woman in Korea Race". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0765614286.
- ^ "Thousands in Korea Are Given Amnesty By New President". The New York Times. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56591-022-5.
- ^ "Korean Reform Efforts Give Chaebol Strength". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ "Commanding Heights: South Korea". PBS.
- ^ "Kim Young-sam, South Korean President Who Opposed Military, Dies at 87". The New York Times. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ Journal, Michael SchumanStaff Reporter of The Wall Street. "Hanbo Scandal Highlights Failings of Kim's Crusade". WSJ. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-85724-820-6. Archivedfrom the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ "The Kia standard". The Economist. 4 September 1997. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-226-18499-9. Archivedfrom the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- ^ "LEADER TELLS S. KOREANS TO TIGHTEN THEIR BELTS". The Washington Post. 22 November 1997. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ "South Korea's president said tragedy and "loneliness" drove her to rely on a shadowy female confidante". QZ.com. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ Kihwan, Kim. (2006). The 1997–98 Korean Financial Crisis: Causes, Policy Response, and Lessons. Archived 5 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine The High-Level Seminar on Crisis Prevention in Emerging Markets, The International Monetary Fund and The Government of Singapore
- ^ Lim, Sunghack. (2005). Foreign Capital Entry in the Domestic Banking Market of Korea: Bitter Medicine or Poison. Korean Political Science Review, 39(4)
- ^ Hahm, Joon-Ho. (2005). The Resurgence of Banking Institutions in Post-crisis Korea. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 35(3)
- Naver News(in Korean). Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Hospital official: Former South Korean President Kim Young-sam". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Kim Tong-hyung (26 November 2015). "S. Koreans mourn ex-President Kim in state funeral". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
- ^ "데일리 오피니언 제567호(2023년 11월 5주) - 역대 대통령 10인 개별 공과(功過) 평가 (11월 통합 포함)". Gallup Korea. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Kim Su-min (8 December 2023). "역대 대통령 공과 평가, 대구경북민들은 어떻게 응답했나". NewsMin (in Korean). Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Cho, Moon-hee; Lee, Doo-ri (5 September 2023). "국민의힘 당대표실 이승만·박정희·김영삼 액자 사진 더 커진 이유는?". Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ^ Yonhap news agency Archived 30 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. 10 March 1997.
- ^ ""제주 '강간'의 도시" YS 일화, 사실일까" (in Korean). 28 November 2015.
- ^ "The Order of Sikatuna". Official Gazette.
External links
- Kim Young-Sam Memorial Museum (in Korean)
- Kim Young-Sam, Hunjunghwe (in Korean)
- Appearances on C-SPAN