NDI mourns the passing of former South Korean President Kim Young Sam, a long-time opponent of military rule, who ushered in an era of reform that would put his country at the forefront of democratic as well as economic development in the region. He died in Seoul on Sunday, November 22

Elected president in 1992, Kim became the first civilian to hold that office in more than three decades. His inauguration marked a turning point of a political journey that began 38 years earlier when, at 26, Kim became the youngest person ever elected to Korea’s National Assembly, where he continued to challenge executive abuses. When later placed under house arrest and banned from political activity, he refused to be silenced. Daring to embrace political compromise, he united with former rivals and built the foundation for peaceful democratic transition.

NDI worked with Kim Young Sam as he sought political reforms and subsequently honored him as the 1993 recipient of the Institute's Harriman Democracy Award presented on the 30th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy, a coincidence Kim characterized as “doubly meaningful” in his acceptance remarks. Then-President Clinton spoke at the NDI Award dinner.  

Kim’s visit to Washington also served as the occasion of President Bill Clinton’s first state dinner during which he lauded Kim’s leadership for democracy and whose “great personal sacrifice in the cause of democracy in Korea has been an inspiration to freedom-loving people around the world.”