Although not fully permitted to resume his political career, Kim Dae-jung headed the broad-based movement called the Consultative Committee for the Promotion of Democracy together with another opposition leader, Kim Young-sam. In the February 12, 1985, parliamentary election, the New Korea Democratic Party (which both Kims supported) emerged to become the first-ranking opposition party. Initially controlling 68 of 276 seats in the unicameral legislature, the party increased to 102 seats after the election with the help of subsequent defections.
An Economist Enters Politics
Kim Dae-jung was born on December 3, 1925, on an island off the southwestern coast of Korea. His father was a farmer on the island, but his family moved to Mokpo, the second largest city in the South Cholla province, where Kim helped run his family's small inn. From 1949 to 1953 he successfully managed a marine shipping firm and also published the daily newspaper The Mokpo Ilbo. With the onset of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, and the Communist North Korean takeover of the city, Kim was imprisoned by the Communists.
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