Former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung died Tuesday at the age of 83. Often called "the Nelson Mandela of Asia," Kim dedicated his early years to fighting the tyranny of Seoul's military-backed governments. As South Korea's president, he traveled to Pyongyang in 2000 to meet Kim Jong Il in a historic meeting. This week, The New York Times called the events in the North Korean capital his "best moments," and he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his outreach.
History, however, will treat him more harshly. For all the fanfare, Kim Dae-jung's policies toward North Korea ultimately failed. He pursued the dream of "reconciliation and cooperation" and will be most remembered for the Sunshine Policy, instituted in 1998 after he took office as South Korea's leader. Named after the Aesop fable in which the sun persuades a man to take off his coat after the North Wind fails to do so, the policy sought to engage the North. D.J., as he was known, no longer insisted on reciprocity. Instead, he accorded Pyongyang one-way favors. Critics righri.ltly called the president's policy asymmetrical and unbalanced.
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