Kim gets prize for Korean thaw

Mr Kim said the honour of the prize should be shared

The South Korean President, Kim Dae-jung, has received the Nobel Peace Prize to honour his efforts to achieve reconciliation with North Korea.

In his acceptance speech in Oslo City Hall, Mr Kim pledged to continue his lifelong campaign for democracy, human rights and reconciliation with North Korea.

Mr Kim is the first Korean recipient of the prize

He said he was accepting the prize on behalf of his people, and added that he would prefer to have shared it with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il.

At a watershed summit in the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June, the two leaders agreed to move towards reconciliation and end enmity stemming from the Korean war.

Courage

The Chairman of the Nobel Committee, Gunnar Berge, said Kim Dae-jung showed the courage to break with 50 years of hostility on the Korean peninsula.

Mr Kim was accompanied to the ceremony by family members and representatives from all walks of life, including former dissidents. The audience of some 1,000 invited guests included Norway's King Harald.

There were many surprises at the landmark Korean summit

The award, also honouring a lifelong drive for democracy and human rights across Asia, includes a cheque for nine million Swedish crowns ($929,300).

"I humbly pledge before you that... I shall give the rest of my life to human rights and peace in my country and in the world, and to the reconciliation and co-operation of my people," said Mr Kim, 75.

North and South Korea have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict.

About 37,000 US troops are still stationed in South Korea, helping to guard the most militarised border in the world.

Praise for North

Mr Kim praised the North Korean leader for dropping Pyongyang's demand for the withdrawal of US troops.

For six months in prison, I awaited the execution day. Often, I shuddered with the fear of death

Kim Dae-jung

He said he likened the Korean situation to Europe, where US troops remained despite the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, "because they continue to be needed for peace and stability.

"To this explanation of mine, Chairman Kim, to my surprise, had a very positive response," he said. "It was a bold switch from North Korea's long-standing demand, and a very significant move for peace on the North Korean peninsula and north-east Asia."

Mr Kim said on Saturday he believed in his dream of Korean unification, but that it could be decades away.

Throughout his life, President Kim has fought for democracy and human rights. His supporters called him the Asian Nelson Mandela.

Mr Kim was sentenced to death in 1980

During the decades of authoritarian military rule in South Korea he faced jail, torture, house arrest, exile and two assassination attempts.

He recalled his bleak experiences in his speech on Saturday.

"Five times I faced near death at the hands of dictators, six years I spent in prison, and 40 years I spent under house arrest or in exile and under constant surveillance," he said.

"In 1980, I was sentenced to death by the military regime. For six months in prison, I awaited the execution day. Often, I shuddered with the fear of death. But I would find calm in the fact of history that justice ultimately prevails."

President Kim is the first Korean recipient of the prize.

And his supporters and critics alike regard it as a huge honour for their country and an important milestone in Korea's development as a democratic nation.