Kim Dae-Jung

"'Just when they were about to throw me overboard, Jesus Christ appeared before me with such clarity. I clung to him and begged him to save me. At that very moment, an airplane came down from the sky to rescue me from the moment of death.'" ("Kim Dae-jung - TheXtraordinary."). Kim Dae-Jung's life was spared many times throughout his life. However, his life was not saved without a purpose. He inspired others with his vision of democracy, which caused them to save his life.

Kim Dae-Jung was born in 1924 at South Korea and died in 2009. He also earned the Nobel Prize Prize in 2000. He became a political activist when the president decided to make a dictatorship government. He believed that one should not hold too much power over others. He then fought to change the government in South Korea so that everyone would have equal rights. A hero must possess a good-natured personality, a perseverance mentality, and a peaceful mindset. A good-natured person is someone who forgives their enemy who tries to kill them. A "Never Giving Up" mindset is someone who does not back down or give up despite all of the obstacles that are in their way. Kim Dae-Jung, a hero, who is a political activist, fought nonviolently for democracy in South Korea, never gave up despite all of the oppositions, and became good-natured, even with his rivals.

For every challenge and obstacle that got into Kim Dae-Jung's way, he never backed down. When people thought they would make him give up, it would just be the opposite. He kept going on despite all of the threats and trouble he faced down the road. As shown in this passage, "Kim Dae-Jung is an exceptional peace advocate and spokesman. His charismatic personality and honest nature have drawn many to him, becoming fierce loyalists that supported him despite the tough situations that they had to face." ("Kim Dae-jung - TheXtraordinary."). Despite the many people who opposed him, he never gave into the numbers and decided to do what was right rather than what people wanted him to do. Dae-Jung's "Not Giving Up" personality inspired others to follow him and do similar actions. Even when his rivals tried to kill Dae-Jung, he did not quit. "Kim has had at least five attempts on his life-the worst one being kidnapped and almost drowned. In spite of all these life-threatening encounters, Kim continued to fight for his country's freedom. " ("Kim Dae-jung - TheXtraordinary."). Dae-Jung's life was threatened several times, and there were assassination attempts on him five times. Despite the threats, he kept working toward his goal. When his rivals tried to lower his morale or force him to give up; they ended up giving Dae-Jung more morale and supporters. Dae-Jung's personality of "Never Giving Up" allowed Dae-Jung to kept going on to his vision and goal. Many traps and obstacles were in his way, but his strong foundation of "Never Giving Up" kept him going until the very end.

Dae-Jung demonstrated heroism by acting non-violently towards others, even when others were violent towards him. An example shown is that Kim Dae-Jung is often compared to one of the many famous non-violent activists, Nelson Mandela. "He is dubbed as the "Nelson Mandela of Asia," having dedicated his life and career to opposing authoritarian rule and to promoting peace and prosperity for South Korea." ("Kim Dae-jung - TheXtraordinary.") Nelson Mandela helped make South Africa a peaceful state while Kim Dae-Jung committed the same act. Both accomplished their dreams and goals successfully and peacefully. It is not every day that someone gets compared to a person who had accomplished so much for his or her country. Another example showing where he became nonviolent is how he struggled to fight for democracy and human rights in a nonviolent way. "Kim became a symbol of resistance against political repression in Korea and a spokesman of the Korean people for the struggle for democracy and human rights. He was an internationally renowned figure as a result of the world-wide sympathy and support he was able to garner for his courageous political stand." ("Kim Dae-jung." Encyclopedia of World Biography.) Without violence, Dae-Jung was able to resist the political power, and he gained supporters from outside of Korea by his nonviolent acts. It Dae-Jung acted violently against his country; he would not be able to gain as many supporters as he would if he were to act peacefully to his country. Dae-Jung's nonviolent techniques inspired other global leaders to realize that acts of violence are not the only way to change a government or make peace. The third reason that Kim Dae-Jung is considered the hero is that he became good-natured to his people, including his rivals. As demonstrated in the article, when Dae-Jung finally won the elections, "Many speculated that Kim would use this opportunity to take care of the people that did him wrong in the past, such as Chun Doo-Hwan, who once sentenced Kim to death for sedition and conspiracy; however, Kim did the unthinkable and instead pardoned Doo-Hwan, showing his true personality-a peace-loving and merciful individual." ("Kim Dae-jung - TheXtraordinary."). Despite Doo-Hwan trying to kill Kim Dae-Jung, when Kim Dae-Jung became president, he forgave Doo-Hwan showing that he is a good-natured person. Being a hero also requires a good-natured personality which includes giving other people a second chance. This character trait sets heroes apart from everyone else. It is more natural to find revenge against the people who tried to stop or kill them. Another example where he is good-natured is how Kim remain good-natured is that, "Kim is also a very compassionate and merciful man. Upon becoming president, he pardoned the very people that once tried to take away his life, in spite of knowing what they could have done to him had they succeeded." ("Kim Dae-jung - TheXtraordinary."). This quote explains that Kim is very forgiving and never held a grudge against the people who would've killed him if they succeeded in doing that. Kim is very compassionate to his allies and rivals as well; he forgives people who did wrongdoing and those who tried to stop him. It is not every day that someone forgives somebody else who attempted to take his or her life. Kim successfully proved that having a good-natured personality caused others to give support and forgiveness to him in the future.

Kim Dae-Jung is a worthy hero, he fought nonviolently for democracy in South Korea, when people tried to stop him, he never gave up became good-natured, even with his rivals. When Kim joined politics when the government became a dictatorship, he believed that South Korea should be a democracy and everyone with equal rights when there was much opposition. Kim Dae-Jung inspired me and others since it is, in fact, possible, to survive five death attempts and when the odds is large, you can still be able to change a country like South Korea or China into a democracy and give people back their human rights. Kim Dae-Jung deserves to be recognized as a hero because he possesses the three different traits: "Never Giving Up" mentality, nonviolent, and good-natured. He slowly gains supporters by these three essential personality traits, and then he struggled to manage to win his vision and goal. However, the problem has not fully ended yet. There are still a lot more problems yet to be resolved, but with those three characteristics, other people can follow his example.

Work cited:

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"The Nobel Peace Prize 2000 - Presentation Speech". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. Web.

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<http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2000/presentation-speech.html>