Editing Kim Dae-jung (section)

===1971 presidential campaign===
{{see also|1971 South Korean presidential election}}
[[File:Kim_Dae-jung_billboard,_1971.jpg|thumb|left|Campaign poster featuring Kim in the 1971 presidential election]]
After completing a master's course in economics at [[Kyung Hee University]] in 1970,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Khatri|first1=Vikas|title=Nobel Peace Prize Winners|date=2012|publisher=V&S Publishers|location=|isbn=|page=80}}</ref> he ran as opposition candidate for the country's [[1971 South Korean presidential election|presidential election in 1971]], against President Park Chung Hee. President Park had removed term limits and was seeking to run for a third term. A very talented orator, Kim could command unwavering loyalty among his supporters. Kim won the nomination of the opposition party over [[Kim Young-sam]], another pro-democracy politician.

Kim promised a welfare-oriented "mass economy" and also advocated easing tensions with North Korea, while predicting correctly that if Park was reelected, he would become a "[[generalissimo]]".<ref name="dem profile">{{cite web|url=https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/kim-dae-jungs-role-in-the-democratization-of-south-korea/ |title=Kim Dae-jung's Role in the Democratization of South Korea|date=2014 |work=Association for Asian Studies |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref>

His staunchest support came from his home region of [[Jeolla]], where he reliably garnered upwards of 95% of the popular vote, a record that has remained unsurpassed in [[South Korean politics]]. He performed strongly, achieving a strong showing of 45% of the vote against [[Park Chung Hee|Park]] despite handicaps on his candidacy that were imposed by the ruling regime.<ref name="Nobel">{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2000/dae-jung-bio.html |title=Kim Dae-jung – Biography |year=2000 |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |access-date=18 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830014439/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2000/dae-jung-bio.html |archive-date=30 August 2009}}</ref> With this strong showing, Park saw Kim as a threat to his rule.