Editing Kim Dae-jung (section)

==Presidency (1998–2003)==
{{Liberalism in South Korea|People}}
{{Neoliberalism sidebar|people}}
[[File:Kim Dae-jung, 1998-Jan-5.jpg|thumb|Kim in January 1998.]]
[[File:Yoshiro Mori and Kim Dae-jung 20000529 01.jpg|thumb|Yoshiro Mori and Kim Dae-jung in 2000]]
[[File:George W. Bush & Kim Dae-Jung with 2002 World Cup jackets 2002-02-20.jpg|thumb|President George W. Bush and South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung at the Blue House, in Seoul, South Korea in 2002.]]
His swearing-in as the eighth president of South Korea on 25 February 1998, marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party [[Peaceful transition of power|peacefully transferred power]] to a democratically elected opposition winner.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9802/24/s.korea.wrap/index.html |title=Opposition boycott shadows South Korea's new president |date=25 February 1998 |publisher=CNN |access-date=18 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530002352/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9802/24/s.korea.wrap/index.html |archive-date=30 May 2010}}</ref> Kim took office amidst an economic crisis. In his inaugural address, President Kim characterized his administration as a "government of the people".

===Economic reforms and recovery===
As a presidential candidate, Kim briefly questioned the conditions attached to the IMF loans and suggested that he might renegotiate it. However, upon his election, Kim quickly recognized the importance of the IMF agreement in restoring South Korea's economic health.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=220}}</ref> Since then, he has implemented the most [[neoliberal]] policy among the major presidents of South Korea, leading to his nickname of "Neoliberal Revolutionist" ({{Korean|hangul=신자유주의 혁명가}}).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201908181861331057 |script-title=ko:신자유주의 혁명가 김대중의 성공 그리고 한계 |work={{ill|SisaIN|ko|시사IN}} |date=24 August 2009 |access-date=18 December 2021}}</ref>

The first task of the Kim administration was restoring investor confidence. The administration held a series of intensive meetings with foreign creditors and quickly succeeded in rescheduling one-quarter of Korea's short-term liabilities.<ref name="lawcolumbia1">{{cite web|url=http://www2.law.columbia.edu/course_00S_L9436_001/2000/t20000224171437401618.htm|title = KoreaTimes : &#91;Reviewing President Kim's Two Years&#93; Building a New Economy}}</ref>

He vigorously pushed economic reform and restructuring recommended by the International Monetary Fund, in the process significantly altering the landscape of [[economy of South Korea|South Korean economy]]. He commenced the [[gold-collecting campaign]] in South Korea to overcome the debt to the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.useoul.edu/news/news0101_view.jsp?idx=128898 |title=Archived copy |access-date=9 July 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709015758/http://www.useoul.edu/news/news0101_view.jsp%3Fidx%3D128898 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Britannica"/><ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 23255888|title = Rok President Kim Dae-Jung's Keynote Address on the Korean Economy|journal = The Journal of East Asian Affairs|volume = 12|issue = 2|pages = 620–626|year = 1998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tq5YkPI3nPoC&q=Gold-collecting+campaign+KIM+DAE+JUNG&pg=PT34 |title = South Koreans in the Debt Crisis: The Creation of a Neoliberal Welfare Society|isbn = 978-0822390824|last1 = Song|first1 = Jesook|date = 18 August 2009| publisher=Duke University Press }}</ref>

Immediately after taking office, the Kim Dae-jung government pushed for revision of the Outside Auditor Law to facilitate the adoption of consolidated financial statements in accordance with international standards, beginning in 1999.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=232}}</ref>
Furthermore, as cross-guarantees allowed loss-making affiliates and subsidiaries with chaebol groups to continue to borrow from banks and drain financial resources from healthier firms, on 1 April 1998, the government prohibited any new intra-chaebol mutual payment guarantees and ordered the phasing-out of the existing guarantees by March 2000. Banks were directed
to negotiate financial restructuring agreements with chaebol groups to reduce any outstanding debts, including closing insolvent firms. With the government's commitment to introduce internationally accepted accounting practices, including independent external audits, full disclosure, and consolidated statements by conglomerates, the Kim administration helped to improve the transparency of chaebol corporate balance-sheets and governance and bring Korea's economy to greater integration with the global economy.

The government also adopted a proactive foreign investment policy. Scores of banks were closed, merged or taken over by the government, and surviving banks were recapitalized. The chaebol were pressured to lower their perilously high debt-equity ratios and establish greater corporate transparency and accountability. Foreign direct investment, under Kim, was viewed as vital to the financial and corporate reform process as a form of secure, stable and long-term form of investment, and also able to acquire new technologies and managerial practices.<ref name="lawcolumbia1"/>

Kim's administration did not shy away from using strong-arm tactics to bring about desired results. For example, when [[LG Group]] objected to [[Hyundai Group|Hyundai]] taking the controlling share and decided to pull out in the midst of merger negotiations, the newly created [[Financial Services Commission (South Korea)|Financial Supervisory Commission]] (FSC) immediately called in LG Group's creditors to discuss punitive measures, including immediate suspension of credit and recall of existing loans and threatened to conduct a tax probe. In the end, LG Group agreed to the merger, relinquishing management control and selling its semiconductor business to Hyundai. Similarly, Samsung was encouraged to sell its automotive operations to Daewoo.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=233}}</ref>

The reforms were modestly successful in getting the chaebols to change their ownership structure by separating ownership from management. Therefore, the largest changes made in this period were reforms in chaebol corporate governance through consolidated financial statements, independent external audits and reduction of intra-group mutual payment guarantees.

Chaebols also streamlined their operations by reducing their excessive leverage and consolidating their many operations in a few core competencies. Some also reduced their debt burden and increased their profitability.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=234}}</ref> After the economy shrank by 5.8 percent in 1998, it grew 10.2 percent in 1999, marking an impressive recovery.<ref name="reconcilation">{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/12/bio.kim.daejung/ |title=Kim Dae-jung: Dedicated to reconciliation |date=14 June 2001 |publisher=CNN |access-date=22 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922050400/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/12/bio.kim.daejung/ |archive-date=22 September 2006 }}</ref> South Korea repaid the IMF loan in August 2001, 3 years ahead of schedule.<ref>{{cite news|script-title=ko:[현장기자] DJ，영욕의 5년|url=https://news.naver.com/main/read.naver?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=110&oid=005&aid=0000138785|access-date=30 October 2021|work=[[Naver]]|date=24 February 2003}}</ref>

Exports also recovered, led by exporting of semiconductors, automobiles, liquid crystal displays and mobile phones.<ref name="lawcolumbia1"/> Foreign investment during 1998 and 1999 exceeded that of the cumulative total for the previous 40 years. Foreign exchange reserves went from a perilously low $3.9&nbsp;billion in December 1997 to $74.0&nbsp;billion at the end of 1999, nearly double Korea's short-term external liabilities.<ref name="lawcolumbia1"/> The exchange rate strengthened quickly by 30% against the U.S. dollar,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=229}}</ref> to the point of actually causing concern about eroding Korea's international competitiveness, and unemployment fell.

Despite worries of a second economic crisis in the wake of [[Daewoo]]'s bankruptcy in July 1999 (after its chairman, [[Kim Woo-choong]] continued to raise the company's indebtedness and aggressively expand in spite of government restructuring and aid), the economic recovery remained on track. By also deciding not to bail out Daewoo, Kim's government conveyed a message to chaebols that no company was [[too big to fail]].

The administration also amended the bankruptcy laws, simplifying legal proceedings for corporate rehabilitation and filing of bankruptcy and streamlining provisions for non-viable firms to exit markets.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=236}}</ref>

===Cyberinfrastructure===
The Kim Dae-jung administration built up country-wide high-speed [[Information and communications technology|ICT]] infrastructure and fostered IT and venture businesses as the future source of growth. In his inaugural address, he expressed a vision for South Korea to advance "from the ranks of industrial societies…into the ranks of the knowledge and information-based societies where intangible knowledge and information will be the driving power for economic development".<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fnvfBQAAQBAJ&q=kim+dae-jung+it+infrastructure&pg=PT74 |title = East Asian Development Model: Twenty-first century perspectives|isbn = 9781317815778|last1 = Hua|first1 = Shiping|last2 = Hu|first2 = Ruihua|date = 17 December 2014| publisher=Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysfhDwAAQBAJ&q=kim+dae-jung+it+infrastructure&pg=PT128 |title = Developing Digital Governance: South Korea as a Global Digital Government Leader|isbn = 9780429623363|last1 = Chung|first1 = Choong-sik|date = 6 May 2020| publisher=Routledge }}</ref> Today, South Korea is one of the most technologically developed countries in the world and has a well-connected cyberinfrastructure which began to be built and fostered under President Kim.

===Welfare===
Under the administration, expenditure on social protection was tripled. Outlays on social protection were increased from 2.6&nbsp;trillion won (0.6 per cent of GDP) in 1997 to 9.1&nbsp;trillion won (2.0 per cent of GDP) in 1999.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=241}}</ref> The biggest policies that were introduced or expanded during Kim's term were:<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|pages=241–242}}</ref>

* expansion of the unemployment insurance program by including all firms (originally, only firms with more than 30 employees were covered), shortening the contribution period required for eligibility, and extending the duration of unemployment benefits. Thus the eligible workforce was increased from 5.7&nbsp;million workers at the beginning of 1998 to 8.7&nbsp;million at the end of the year.
* introduction of a temporary public work program in May 1998, enrolling 76,000 workers. By January 1999, the program provided 437,000 jobs.
* temporary livelihood protection program covering 750,000 beneficiaries. It also introduced a means-tested noncontributory social pension for 600,000 elderly people.

===Labour reform===
Kim Dae-jung's government also enhanced labour market flexibility as a key goal of structural reforms.

Kim forged [[corporatism|corporatist]] agreements between business, labour and government to get them to work together to resolve the country's financial woes. Kim's long history in the opposition, his pro-labour views and his overall populist, outsider credentials enabled him to get his mobilized and militant working-class voter base to make sacrifices to meet fiscal stabilization, while also asking businesses to make sacrifices at the same time.<ref name="Manchester University Press">{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=240}}</ref>

After successful tripartite consultative negotiations between labor, business and government, the Labor Standards Act was amended by the National Assembly on 13 February 1998. Under the new accord, business promised to ensure transparency in its management and to take prudent measures when laying off its employees. Specifically, the law provided legal grounds for employment adjustment and permits layoffs only after a company has duly considered the interests of its workers. Labour, on the other hand, agreed to the implementation of flexible worker layoffs for restructuring, while pledging to work towards to enhancing productivity and cooperate with business on terms of wages and working hours. As for government, it committed itself to strengthening its support programs by providing vocational training and information on re-employment. New employment options such as temporary work, part-time employment and work at home were developed. To deal with the expected large-scale layoffs from the economic crisis and restructuring process, the government also pledged to strengthen and expand the coverage of unemployment insurance.<ref name="Manchester University Press"/>

===North Korea policy===
{{See also|Sunshine Policy}} 
[[File:President Bill Clinton greets South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung.jpg|thumb|Dae-jung with U.S. president [[Bill Clinton]] in September 1999]]
[[File:Vladimir Putin in South Korea 26-28 February 2001-7.jpg|thumb|In February 2001, Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] dined with Kim Dae-Jung.]]
His policy of engagement with [[North Korea]] has been termed the [[Sunshine Policy]].<ref name="reconcilation"/> He moved to begin [[détente]] [[Foreign relations of North Korea|with respect]] to the [[Government of North Korea|totalitarian government in North Korea]], which culminated in a historic summit meeting in 2000 in [[Pyongyang]] with North Korean leader [[Kim Jong Il]]. This marked a critical juncture in inter-Korean relations. On 13 October 2000, he was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for these efforts, and also in conjunction for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2000/press.html |title=The Nobel Peace Prize for 2000 to Kim Dae-jung |date=13 October 2000 |website=Nobel Prize |access-date=16 July 2018 }}</ref> A big consequence of these efforts is that on 15 September 2000, the [[Korean Unification Flag]] ({{Korean|hangul=통일기|hanja=統一旗|rr=Tong-ilgi|mr=T'ong'ilgi|links = no}}) was carried into an [[Stadium Australia|Olympic Stadium]] during an [[2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony|Olympic opening ceremony]] for the first time. However, the historic event was tainted significantly by allegations that at least several hundred million dollars had been paid to North Korea, known as the [[cash-for-summit scandal]]. Hyundai transferred $500&nbsp;million to the North just months before the summit, triggering criticism that the South Korean government paid for the summit. [[Hyundai Asan|Hyundai]] claimed the money was a payment for exclusive business rights in electric power facilities, communication lines, an industrial park, cross-border roads and railway lines in North Korea. And in this regard, [[Park Jie-won]] was charged with violating domestic laws on foreign exchange trade and inter-Korean cooperation affairs while orchestrating covert money transfers by Hyundai to North Korea. Park played a pivotal role in arranging the first [[Inter-Korean summit]]. In May 2006, he was sentenced to three years in prison. Park was released in February 2007, and pardoned in December 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2839306|title=Park Jie-won gets leave from jail for treatment|date=6 November 2006|access-date=5 July 2020|work=[[Korea JoongAng Daily]]}}</ref> Also to persuade North Korea to attend the summit, several "[[unconverted long-term prisoners]]" kept by South Korea were released and returned to North Korea.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.atimes.com/koreas/BI05Dg01.html |periodical=[[Asia Times Online]] |title=Spies' repatriation causes unease in Seoul |last=Ahn |first=Mi-young |date=5 September 2000 |access-date=25 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235340/http://www.atimes.com/koreas/BI05Dg01.html |archive-date=2 December 2013 |url-status=unfit}}</ref>

===Relationship with former presidents===
After Kim achieved the presidency and moved into the [[Blue House]], there was uncertainty and considerable speculation about how he would deal with previous presidents: he had been sentenced to death under Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo was Chun's number two and Kim Young-sam had been his political rival.

However, in December 1997 as president-elect, he advised outgoing president Kim Young-sam to pardon Chun and Roh who were imprisoned in 1996, in the spirit of national unity. Both Roh and Chun would attend Kim's inauguration ceremony in February 1998. Early in his term Kim invited Chun and Roh, both of whom attempted to have him killed, to the Blue House and refrained from seeking political vengeance. Subsequently, Kim organized gatherings with the former presidents to seek advice, an unprecedented move. After coming back from overseas visits, he invited them to the Blue House to explain the outcomes.<ref name="The Korea Times">{{cite news |date= 14 August 2009|title= Chun Doo-hwan Comforts DJ at Bedside|url= https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/08/116_50130.html|access-date= 27 October 2021}}</ref> During Kim's final days on his deathbed, the former presidents visited him and Chun met [[Lee Hee-ho]], Kim's wife and former first lady, and recounted Kim's display of magnanimity towards him, even though he had once had him put on death row. On 10 August 2009, eight days before his death, Kim was visited by his predecessor and rival [[Kim Young-sam]]. Next Day, President [[Lee Myung-bak]] also visited at the hospital.<ref name="The Korea Times"/>

===Political developments===
When he entered office, he appointed [[Kim Jong-pil]], formerly part of the [[Park Chung Hee]] dictatorship and Park's prime minister, as his first prime minister in return for Jong-pil endorsing his candidacy in a power-sharing agreement before the 1997 election. Kim's [[National Congress for New Politics]], and Jong-pil's [[United Liberal Democrats]] (ULD) formed a coalition, but did not have a majority in the National Assembly.<ref name="The Asian financial crisis: Crisis">{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Shalendra|title=The Asian financial crisis: Crisis, reform and recovery|date=2003|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=|isbn=|page=230}}</ref> Instead, the now opposition [[Grand National Party]] (GNP) of Lee Hoi-chang held a majority. During the first six months in 1998, most of the 100 major reform measures failed to materialize due to the lack of the legislative support and partisan compromise. It was only in September 1998 that the ruling coalition secured a majority in the National Assembly by enticing a large number of opposition GNP lawmakers to defect.<ref name="The Asian financial crisis: Crisis"/> Up to 25 GNP deputies left the party to join the governing coalition, after arm-twisting tactics by the government by launching corruption, campaign finance and tax audit investigations on them.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hong Nack|first1=Kim|title=The 2000 Parliamentary Election in South Korea: Asian Survey Vol. 40, No. 6 (Nov. – Dec., 2000)|date=2000|publisher=University of California Press|location=|isbn=|page=895}}</ref>

The ULD and Kim Jong-pil subsequently left the coalition to join the opposition in January 2000, following disagreement with President Kim's North Korea policy and the failure of the president to uphold his deal with Jong-pil to introduce a cabinet-style government.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hong Nack|first1=Kim|title=The 2000 Parliamentary Election in South Korea: Asian Survey Vol. 40, No. 6 (Nov. – Dec., 2000)|date=2000|publisher=University of California Press|location=|isbn=|page=896}}</ref>

President Kim sought to remake his party into a national broad-based party instead of a base on regional appeal, and introduce multi-member parliamentary constituencies, with the ULD. However, Kim agreed with the GNP to implement a parallel voting system like in Japan, and the agreement collapsed amidst protests from civic groups.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hong Nack|first1=Kim|title=The 2000 Parliamentary Election in South Korea: Asian Survey Vol. 40, No. 6 (Nov. – Dec., 2000)|date=2000|publisher=University of California Press|location=|isbn=|page=897}}</ref> Thus the existing system was retained.

In 1999, the [[Furgate]] scandal damaged Kim Dae-jung and his party's reputation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=South Korea since 1980|last=Heo|first=Uk|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|others=Roehrig, Terence|isbn=9780521761161|location=New York|pages=55–56|oclc=498419139}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Yoon|first=Young-Kwan|date=2000|title=South Korea in 1999: Overcoming Cold War Legacies|journal=Asian Survey|volume=40|issue=1|pages=164–171|doi=10.2307/3021230|jstor=3021230}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Blechinger|first=Verena|date=2000|title=Report on Recent Bribery Scandals, 1996-2000|url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN013119.pdf|journal=Submitted for a TI Workshop on Corruption and Political Party Funding in la Pietra, Italy|archive-date=11 September 2018|access-date=14 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911191154/http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN013119.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Also, in spite of his background as a democratic reformer, Kim was accused of being vindictive towards political opponents and even journalists critical of his government, as seen when government agencies used strong-arm tactics against the opposition or reporters via politically motivated investigations along with accusations of spying on the opposition. Kim's administration included more individuals from Jeolla, which led to charges of [[reverse discrimination]]. Many citizens, in the middle of his term, also did not feel that the economic recovery benefitted them. Finally, conservatives accused Kim of being an appeaser towards North Korea with his Sunshine Policy.<ref name="autogenerated898">{{cite book|last1=Hong Nack|first1=Kim|title=The 2000 Parliamentary Election in South Korea: Asian Survey Vol. 40, No. 6 (Nov. – Dec., 2000)|date=2000|publisher=University of California Press|location=|isbn=|pages=898–900}}</ref>

These factors, led to National Congress, now renamed as the [[Democratic Party (South Korea, 2000)|Millennium Democratic Party]] to suffer a setback as the party fell short behind the Grand National Party in the National Assembly during the [[2000 South Korean legislative election]]. The decision to announce an inter-Korean summit 3 days before the election is said to have somewhat limited the governing party's losses as 79.6% of respondents in an opinion poll approved of the summit. Kim appointed [[Lee Han-dong]], ULD president, as the new prime minister in a bid to mend fences and continue a governing majority against the GNP.<ref name="autogenerated898"/>

Later, the ULD left the coalition for good in September 2001. ULD members sided with the GNP to pass a vote of no-confidence by 148 to 119 votes against key Cabinet member, Unification Minister [[Lim Dong-won]], who was in charge of the Kim government's "Sunshine Policy" with North Korea.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1525239.stm |title=ASIA-PACIFIC &#124; Analysis: South Korea's options |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=4 September 2001 |accessdate=10 February 2010}}</ref> President Kim effectively became a lame duck, and the political leverage that he had accumulated thanks to his summit diplomacy came to an abrupt end. Economic reform plans and engagement policies pursued by the administration simultaneously achieved mixed results until the end of his term one and a half years later.