A new letter has been revealed that the late former President Kim Dae-jung secretly delivered to Mrs.
On the 13th anniversary of the death of former President Kim Dae-jung, the Kim Dae-jung Library of Yonsei University has released a letter left by former President Kim Dae-jung to his wife Lee Hee-ho.
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▲ (Left) Prison guards monitoring the entrance to the special room ward where former President Kim Dae-jung was imprisoned.
(Right) Former President Kim Dae-jung, who was transferred to Seoul National University Hospital while lying in bed.
(Photo=Kim Dae-jung Peace Center)
On March 1, 1976, former President Kim was arrested on charges of violating Emergency Measure No. 9 after announcing the March 1 Declaration of Democracy against the Yushin regime along with prominent figures such as Yun Bo-seon and Jeong Il-hyung at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.
Former President Kim, who was sentenced to five years in prison at the time, served a sentence in Jinju Prison and left a letter in prison to his family.
The letters published this time were written in 1978, and are additional letters discovered in addition to the 19 prison letters that were previously published.
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▲ A letter from former President Kim Dae-jung to Mrs. Lee Hee-ho (Photo=Kim Dae-jung Library, Yonsei University)
At that time, visits outside the family and correspondence were strictly restricted, so if Lee, who visited the hospital, secretly delivered a note to former President Kim, the former President Kim pressed the paper with a nail and left a note, the library explained.
The message left by former President Kim was delivered by hiding the written letter in a toilet roll, and then Mrs. Lee Hee-ho sneaked out after her visit.
The letter said, "There will be a big change in the political situation in Korea after the fall. The nature and scope of it are: first, the capabilities of our democratic forces and the response of the people, second, economic and social trends in Korea, and third, the It will be greatly influenced by attitudes, fourth allies, especially the attitudes of the United States."
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▲ After former President Kim was transferred from Jinju Prison to Seoul National University Hospital, Mrs. Lee visited the hospital.
(Photo=Kim Dae-jung Peace Center)
At the end of the letter, the heart of her husband, who is concerned about Lee Hee-ho's health, is also included.
Former President Kim said, "I am not only worried about your health. You are more than twice as worried about my work. Not only do you work especially hard on your meals, but as I said before, take some herbal medicine. You are the greatest way to help me right now. It's my health, so I ask you not to neglect my worries," he wrote, worrying about his wife's health.
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▲ First Lady Hee-ho Lee and former President Kim Dae-jung (Photo=Kim Dae-jung Peace Center)
Kim Dae-jung Library said, "The letter pressed with nails is meaningful in that it was written in a unique way that is hard to find other examples at home and abroad." You can tell that there was,” he explained.
The library side also said, "Kim Dae-jung's will to write one letter by letter by secretly pressing it with a nail to avoid surveillance around him is truly superhuman. material,” he added.