Former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung: Major Biographic Ecents

1924: Born in the far southwestern island of Haui, South Jeolla Province.

1943: Graduates from Mokpo Commercial High School.

1948: Becomes chief of Mokpo Daily, based in South Jeolla Province.

1950: Resigns as the head of Mokpo Daily.

1951: Takes office as president of a maritime company, Heungkeuk.

1957: Becomes a member of the central standing committee of the opposition Democratic Party.

1960: Becomes a spokesman for the Democratic Party.

1961: Elected to the fifth National Assembly following victory in a by-election.

1963: Elected to the sixth National Assembly.

1964: Receives a diploma from Seoul's Korea University graduate school in business administration.

1965: Becomes a spokesman for People's Party, named Minjung Party in Korean.

1967: Elected to the seventh National Assembly.

1970: Tapped as presidential candidate for the New People's Party.

1971: Elected to the eighth National Assembly. Named presidential candidate with the New Democratic Party.

1972: Seeks political asylum in Japan and the United States following President Park Chung-hee's declaration of Revitalizing Reforms, known as the Yushin Constitution, which dissolved the eighth National Assembly while extending Park's dictatorial rule that ended with his assassination in 1979.

1973: Kidnapped by a group of South Korean intelligence officials in Tokyo and placed under house arrest.

1976: Arrested on charges of organizing a democratic movement that led to a democratization declaration on March 1.

1979: Released from prison on a special amnesty.

1980: Sentenced to death after being convicted on charges of conspiracy and sedition

1981: Sentence reduced to life imprisonment.

1982: Released from prison after suspension of sentence. Seeks asylum in the U.S.

1983: Founds a research institute on human rights in the U.S.

1985: Returns to South Korea and becomes co-chairman of the Seoul-based consultative committee for democratization.

1987: Runs for the 13th president on the ticket of the Peace and Democratic Party.

1988: Elected to the 13th National Assembly.

1991: Becomes chairman of the New Democratic Party.

1992: Elected to the 14th National Assembly, later runs in the 14th presidential election on the ticket of the Democratic Party. Named a professor emeritus at Moscow University in Russia.

1993: Named professor emeritus at Cambridge University in Britain.

1994: Becomes head of the Asia-Pacific Peace Foundation.

1995: Becomes the president of the National Congress for the New Politics (Party).

1997: Elected the 15th president of South Korea.

1998: Sworn in as president.

2000: Named chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party. Wins the Nobel Peace Prize following the first-ever inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June.

2001: Awarded Britain's highest award, the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, by Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his lifelong contribution to enhancing democracy and human rights.

2002: Withdraws his membership from the Millennium Democratic Party, now the Democratic Party.

2003: Steps down as the 15th president of South Korea. Undergoes minor coronary surgery at Yonsei University Severance Hospital in Seoul.

2006: Takes office as chairman of the Kim Dae Jung Peace Foundation for the Asia-Pacific Region.

2009: Passes away at the Seoul Yonsei University Severance Hospital