Todd Bishop
Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Li Jizhen, died at a hospital in Seoul on Monday (10th) at the age of 97. South Korean President Wen is mourning and praises her as a Korean democracy.
Born in 1922, Li Jixi graduated from the National Seoul National University and went to the United States to study abroad. After returning to China, she taught at Ewha Women’s University and served as a council member of the Korean YWCA Korean Women’s Group Association, and joined the feminist movement.
She married Kim Dae-jung in 1962 and became her second wife and closest political partner. During Kim Dae-jung’s military dictatorship against Park Chung-hee and Quan Doo-hwan, he suffered from kidnapping, imprisonment, house arrest and exile in the United States. Li Jizhen has always given support. In 1980, when Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death for being accused of treason, Li Jizhen actively replied to Kim Dae-jung in the international community and sent a letter to US President Jimmy Carter.
In 1997, Kim Dae-jung was elected president after four elections. Li Jizhen, who is over 70 years old, became the first lady of South Korea to assist her husband. After the outbreak of the foreign exchange crisis in South Korea, she established a number of women’s groups and served as consultants, focusing on women’s affairs throughout her life. Her major contributions to human rights and women’s issues have been recognized at home and abroad, and she has received numerous awards and medals.
In 2000, the Han Dynasty held a historic summit meeting. Li Jizhen accompanied Kim Dae-jung to visit Pyongyang and was received by the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. After Kim Dae-jung’s death, she became the leader of her supporters and served as the Principal of Peace in Kim Dae-jung and actively supported the DPRK project. When Kim Jong Il died in 2011, she went to the DPRK to mourn and became the first Korean person to meet after Kim Jong-un was in power.
South Korean President Wen is mourning on social networking sites, praising Li Jizhen as the first female feminist and democrat in Korea. Unfortunately, due to her physical condition, she was unable to visit Pyongyang with him in 2018. I believe that Kim Dae-jung and Li Jizhen also firmly support peace on the peninsula at this moment.
