Famous Political Prisoners

Kim Dae-jung:

Kim was 15th President of the Republic of Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was also the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He was also called as "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his long-standing opposition to authoritarian rule.

He was kidnapped from a hotel room in Tokyo by members of KICA, General Park’s notorious spy agency in 1973, and was brought to his Seoul residence, only to be placed under house arrest. Through his decade’s long fight for democracy and human rights in his homeland, Kim saw his country swap one dictator for another, until the great liberator, financial crisis, brought him to power. The years of exile in America held him many admirers, and he tried to use that leverage to bring about that same fate for his brothers in the north, but not even an embrace from Kim Jong II at Pyongyang prevented him from being voted out.