hankyoreh

Aug 21.

A section of late President Kim Dae-jung's diary kept over the last year of his life until just before his June 4 hospitalization was shared with the public on Friday. It appears to represent a kind of final statement to the public, and was handwritten by the late president during a time when his health had deteriorated.

In the journal, Kim Dae-jung passionately expressed his rage against the unilateral behavior of the Lee Myung-bak administration, and shared his concern and dismay over the state of democracy in South Korea and the extent to which inter-Korean relations is in crisis. As though sensing that he did not have long to live, he also praised the beauty of life and expressed warm affection for his wife Lee Hee-ho.

On May 23, the day former President Roh Moo-hyun died, Kim wrote, “Prosecutors were too harsh in their investigation. They attacked him, his wife, his son, his older brother and his nephew-in-law as if they were cleaning house.” He also wrote that Roh’s suicide “was as good as forced upon him.”

In a May 29 entry written after attending Roh’s funeral ceremony, Kim wrote, “There has probably never been a case of nationwide mourning like this before. The people’s disappointment, rage and sadness about reality seems to overlap with President Roh’s.” He also strongly cautioned that the Lee government “will be unable to escape unscathed if it keeps up with this utter high-handedness.”

In an entry on Jan 20, when the Yongsan tragedy occurred, Kim criticized the police brutality in evidence there. “Because of the violent suppression of the police, five people are dead and an additional ten have been hospitalized with injuries. It is truly barbaric behavior,” he wrote. He also considered the unfortunate plight of those protesting evictions and wrote, “The situation of these poor citizens, who are being chased out of their homes in the cold winter, brings tears to my eyes.”

In a Jan 16 entry, Kim wrote, “All dictators in history think that they alone will not follow the same path as those previous if they prepare well enough, but in the end, they walk the same path or are subject to history’s harsh judgment.”

Throughout the diary, Kim reflected on his turbulent 85-year life and expressed his intentions of dedicating what was left of his life to addressing democracy in crisis and to normalizing inter-Korean relations. In entries on Jan 14 and Jan 15, he wrote, “The question in life is not how long you lived. It is whether you lived for people who are suffering and are faced with hardship.” He also wrote, “I have lived my life believing in history and the people even amid innumerable persecutions. In the future, I will continue to walk this same path for as long as I am alive.”

The former president also indicated a powerful determination to live even amid an agonizing illness. On April 27, a day when he received four hours of dialysis treatment, he wrote, “What is there to hope for in this world?” He went on to write, “I will maintain my health until the end and to lend the counsel necessary for resolving the three major crises of the present: the crisis of democracy, the economic crisis of the working class, and the crisis in inter-Korean relations.”

He also expressed his warm feelings toward his wife, Lee Hee-ho, with whom he had spent his entire life. On Jan. 11, he wrote, “I love and respect my wife, and without her, I might not be here now and even now, I think living without her would be difficult.” On Feb. 7, he wrote, “It makes me happy to spend time with my wife all day long.”

The journal entries released Friday were excerpts from the 2009 section of Kim’s last journal, which begins in 2008. Regarding the matter of undisclosed journal entries, Choi Kyung-hwan, the former president’s chief secretary hinted that earlier entries contained even more intense criticism of the Lee administration. “The question of whether or not to disclose some rather strident excerpts during his state funeral is left to Mrs. Lee Hee-ho’s discretion,” Choi said. The journal entries released Friday were printed in a small book entitled Insaengeun Areumdapgo Yeoksaneun Baljeonhanda (Life Is Beautiful and History Advances), and 30,000 copies were distributed at incense-burning memorials nationwide.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]