RIP Kim Dae-jung

The former President of South Korea, Kim Dae-jung, died yesterday aged 85. He had received the Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." In the 1970s and 80s he fought hard to promote democracy in South Korea and survived five attempts on his life. In 1971 a 14 tonne truck forced his car off the road. Kim survived, injured. In 1973 South Korean intelligence agents kidnapped him from a hotel room in Tokyo and dragged him off into a boat with the intention of drowning him. He was saved by the CIA arriving by plane, an act which Kim, a devout Catholic, described as the intervention of Christ. He became President in 1998 and is best known for the introduction of the Sunshine Policy: engaging with North Korea. Here's a photo of him with Kim Jong-il, the Dear Leader of North Korea.