"No Enemy More Humiliating Than This"... Former President Kim Dae-jung's Prison Memoirs Released

Lee Hee-ho Lady's Visit and the Content She Heard Recorded

Yonsei University Kim Dae-jung Library disclosed on the 17th a memo containing the then feelings of former President Kim Dae-jung, who suffered hardships while imprisoned due to the so-called fabricated incident of conspiracy to incite rebellion.
Photo by Yonsei University Kim Dae-jung Library

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Yonsei University Kim Dae-jung Library has released a memo containing the then feelings of former President Kim Dae-jung, who was imprisoned due to the fabricated charge of a coup d'?tat conspiracy.

On the 17th, Kim Dae-jung Library unveiled a memo recording former President Kim's feelings to mark the 42nd anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising. The memo recorded what Lee Hee-ho, his wife, heard when she visited former President Kim, who was imprisoned at Cheongju Prison on November 2, 1981.

The content includes former President Kim's feelings such as, "I even resented Pastor Cho Nam-gi, asking why God saved me," "There has never been a time in my life so humiliating and painful," "Even when I woke up gasping for breath, unable to endure it, I prayed," and "Now that I have overcome that crisis, I can finally speak."

At that time, former President Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death and imprisoned as the main culprit in the fabricated coup d'?tat conspiracy related to the Gwangju Democratic Uprising.

The fabricated coup d'?tat conspiracy was an incident in 1980 when the new military regime under Chun Doo-hwan's government falsely accused that the large-scale protests of the Seoul Spring and the May 18 Democratic Uprising originated from a coup d'?tat conspiracy by Kim Dae-jung and his group, sending over 20 people to military trials.

Although former President Kim was sentenced to death, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment as the Pope, the United States, and human rights organizations worldwide campaigned for his release. In 2004, he was acquitted through a retrial.

The Kim Dae-jung Library explained, "This is the first time that materials written when Mrs. Lee visited former President Kim during his imprisonment have been made public," adding, "It is also rare to find cases where he expressed his pain so frankly and directly."