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S Korea's ex-president Kim on respirator

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-16 16:19

SEOUL: Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the first meeting of the leaders of the rival Koreas, is on a respirator at a Seoul hospital, an official said on Thursday.

Former South Korean president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung speaks during an interview with Reuters at his house in Seoul in this June 23, 2009 file photo. [Agencies]

Kim, 85, a former political prisoner, is best known overseas for his 2000 summit with Kim Jong-il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), in Pyongyang that led to quickly warming ties between the two states that have not yet officially ended their 1950-53 war.

"Kim Dae-jung is on a respirator because of breathing difficulties due to his pneumonia, but his vital signs are stable," said the official at Yonsei University Hospital.

Kim is in an intensive care unit but he is not considered critically ill, the official said, countering previous reports in South Korean media that Kim's condition was life threatening.

Kim was taken to hospital earlier this week with pneumonia, officials with his presidential library said.

Kim, a leading figure in the country's fight for democracy who survived several assassination attempts before taking office, served as president from 1998 to 2003.

The meeting in Pyongyang was the culmination of the "Sunshine Policy", his idea of prodding DPRK forward with the promise of incentives and reducing the strain of eventual unification through economic integration.